Clas S _ 

BO* : 



A 



HISTORY 

OF THE 

COUNCIL OF TRENT, 

COMPILED FROM A COMPARISON OF VARIOUS WRITERS ) 
WITH A 

CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY. 

BY 

THE REV. THEODORE ALOIS 1 BUCKLEY, B.A., 

CHAPLAIN OF CHRIST CHURCH, 

Editor of Translations of the "Decrees and Canons" and "Catechism of 
the Council of Trent/' etc. 



" Destruenda sunt aliena, ut nostris credatur." 

Phoebadius contra Arianos, p. 1, ed. Steph. 1570. 



LONDON : 

GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND CO., FARRINGDON STREET. 
1852. 



TO THE 

RIGHT REVEREND AND RIGHT HONOURABLE 

CHARLES JAMES BLOMFIELD, D.D., 

LORD BISHOP OF LONDON, 
THIS VOLUME 
IS MOST GRATEFULLY DEDICATED BY 
THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



In bringing before the public a new sketch of the history 
of the Council of Trent, I feel that, although the increased 
study of the fathers and councils of late years has enlarged 
our opportunities of entering fairly into the merits of theo- 
logical questions, and has, in many instances, substituted fair 
deductions for prejudged assertion, still, in the case of this 
Council, we cannot hope to arrive at new conclusion s. Neverthe- 
less, a greater acquaintance with scholastic technology, a more 
complete system of critical canons, and a stricter appliance 
of that system to particular instances, will doubtless help us 
to discern more safely between truth and error, and, while 
doing away with conventional prejudices and traditional 
exaggerations, will make us, if not perfect reasoners on our 
own side, at least more lenient in considering the views of 
our opponents. If the pursuit of such literature has been 
perverted by some into a reason for a reunion with error, 
we have, at the same time, the assurance that a far greater 
number have been led to very different conclusions ; and that, 
whilst we have learned the real nature of Romanism from its 
own sources, we have often found the confutation of its tenets 
in the very writings to which it appeals as the main-spring 
of their existence — writings which it would fain elevate to 
the rank of inspired Scripture. 

But this revival of a more extended system of theolo- 
gical study, while it has led to a clearer and less prejudged 
understanding of the errors of Home, has had less in- 



viii 



PREFACE. 



fluence with regard to the history of her Church, Less 
has been done in this respect, simply because less remained 
to be done. The leading features of the history of that 
Church are too recent in their development, to require the 
sagacity of a Boileau or a Niebuhr to extricate them from 
the dark chaos of an unphilosophical and fragmentary nar- 
rative. Moreover, the constitution of the Roman Church is 
too artificial, too presumptive in its character, to admit of 
being brought within the range of speculative criticism. It 
is an anomaly in its very existence, and yet a splendidly 
consistent one. Its history must be documentary, not meta- 
physical. It is to a long series of martyrologies, acts, and 
annals, that we must appeal, if we would form the smallest 
conception of Romanism, not to the broad principles upon 
which the rest of the world's history is traced. In review- 
ing the history of the Roman Church, we must not consider 
mankind as a free agent, yet living under the dispensation of 
God ; but as fettered in their enjoyment of that dispensation 
by trustees, whom they have preferred to the Divine Author 
of the covenant itself. 

And such a condition of a Church must of necessity 
influence its writers to an extent of which we can scarcely 
form an adequate notion. A claim of infallibility presup- 
poses the necessity of denying whatever may tend to invali- 
date that claim ; and an assumed credibility is thus too often 
supported at the expense of a positive falsehood. Again, the 
assumption of a perfect consistency, even in a creed that has 
modelled its articles to suit the differences of contending, 
but faithful adherents, gives occasion for many clumsy sub- 
terfuges in explaining away or suppressing facts or principles 
which militate against that consistency. In a word, the 
axiom that "the Church cannot err" becomes the cause of 
her going astray, the quicksand upon which the best hopes 
of her followers are wrecked and wasted. 



PREFACE. 



ix 



Another difficulty with which we have to contend is the 
mixture of temporal with spiritual matters, the subservience 
of the gifts of the Church as means of worldly aggrandize- 
ment and profit, and the under-current of secular influence 
which runs through almost every detail of Roman Catholic 
history. Not that I would deny the existence of the same 
evil in our own Church. Far from it — it must be deplored 
as one of the evils which are the necessary consequences of 
an artificial scheme of society; but in the history of the 
Roman Church it assumes a far greater and more dangerous 
position. What is, in our Church, the excess of an excep- 
tion, is, in Romanism, only a partial realization of the grand 
axiom of infallibility, the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. 

Thus, writers on a subject like the Council of Trent are 
almost inevitably reduced to two classes, — opponents and 
apologists. At least, to one or other of these classes contem- 
porary writings must belong ; and the truth, perhaps hanging 
equally balanced between the accuser and the apologist, is 
thus left to the judgment of some third party, who has com- 
paratively nothing to gain by abuse or panegyric. Ajid yet 
it is difficult to find any writer capable, or, if capable, willing 
to exercise impartiality. We are too much influenced by 
what we read to be perfectly fair in our conclusions. Even 
the style of an author may bias our judgment as to the value 
of his facts, and a specious cleverness may become little else 
than an attractive screen for untruth or exaggeration. Still, 
the road to a true history must lie between the aggressive 
and the defensive. 

The leading writers on the history of the Council of Trent 
present a contrast of this description, which can scarcely be 
surpassed; and, often as the subject has been discussed by 
more able critics than myself, it seems almost necessary to 
state briefly the results to which my own reading of these 
historians has led. 



X 



PREFACE. 



A recent author a complains that, both in Father Paul and 
Pallavicino, " we find diffuseness and dryness ; no plan, do 
philosophy ; an absence, in fine, of all that is now looked 
for in an historian." This is a bold criticism— indeed, too 
bold to be correct. Both writers possess excellences which 
will always be worthy of imitation ; both present faults which 
detract not only from their interest, but their value. 

Father Paul Sarpi was a man whose mind was consider- 
ably in advance of the age he lived in. b His inquiring 
spirit, which led him to penetrate deeply into the mysteries 
of natural science, if not to anticipate many subsequent dis- 
coveries, had no small influence upon his religious views. 
Although he seems to have always lived in communion with 
the Church of Rome, his sympathies were directed elsewhere. 
This is not the place to enter into an account of his life, or 
it might be shown that the history written by this great 
man was the clear reflection of his own thoughts. A long 
habit of dissecting the system of Romanism had laid open to 
his searching eye all those minute seeds of corruption, which 
had gradually infected the whole body. Deep learning — 
though often desultory — had given him a right to decide on 
points concerning the origin and progress of error ; worldly 
tact and an unrivalled skill in tracing acts to their motives, 
taught him to look with a suspicious eye upon the partisans 
of the scheme whose fallacies he had detected. He had, in 
short, probed the wounds of the Church, knew the malady 
by its symptoms, and traced that malady to its right origin. 

But Father Paul was no reformer. He looked upon 
Romanism as a surgeon regards the corpse he has been dis- 
secting. It was not as a living patient, diseased, yet capable 

a M. Bungener, preface to his History of the Council of Trent. 

b "II ne pouvait se borner aux e'tudes scolastiques de son convent ; 
le Grec, l'Hebreu, les mathe'matiques, il voulut tout savoir." — Bibl. 
Univ. v. xl. p. 426. 



PREFACE. 



xi 



of cure, that he contem plated the erring body of the Church \ 
but with the bitterness of one who had abandoned hope and 
lost faith in its power to rally. He was not a constructive 
satirist ; he cared little for partial schemes of reform, but 
struck at the whole head and front of offence. In this 
respect he resembled Luther ; but his sympathy with the 
Protestants was insufficient to rank him among their 
numbers. 

In eveiy page of his history, this desire for the overthrow 
of the papal court — if not of the whole scheme of Romanism 
— is prominently set forth. Yet he never degenerates into 
abuse ; and if his censure is more than usually pointed, it is 
generally given as the opinion of others, rather than his own. 
His talent for innuendo is surprising ; even the juxtaposi- 
tion of facts is frequently contrived to assist the under cur- 
rent of satire ; and, how animated soever his description may 
be, however bold and picturesque his language, it is impos- 
sible not to perceive the sneering tone of one, who has little 
sympathy with the subjects of his narrative. Perhaps, if 
we knew more of his private life and that of his contem- 
poraries, we should perceive not a little sly reference to 
affairs transpiring at the very time he was engaged in the 
work. 

Many attempts have been made to rescue our author 
from the charge of unfairness ; but although willing to accept 
his defence, as far as general authenticity goes, and although 
myself generally coinciding with his views, I cannot deceive 
myself as to the fact that Father Paul is always a satirist, 
and that he was nearly incapable of telling a story without, 

c "On convient que ce livre est e'crit avec beaucoup d'art : l'auteur, 
evitant avec soin d'exposer ses propres sentiments, se borne le plus 
souvent a citer les passages ou les paroles de ceux qui ont combattu les 
decrets qui ne lui plaisent pas ; mais il s'y prend de maniere, qu'a Yen 
croire, les Protestants ont toujours eu raison, et les papes toujours tort." 
— Biog. Univ. p. 433. 



xii 



PREFACE. 



at the same time, letting people know what he thought of 
every one and every thing concerned. When Mr. Hallam 
says, " Sarpi is not a fair, but he is, for those times, a 
tolerably exact historian," he does full justice both to the 
excellences and the defects of our historian. 

But there is a more serious charge brought against this 
writer, namely, wholesale inaccuracy in historical details. 
Cardinal Pallavicino, whose history will presently claim our 
attention, has collected an " ater index " of alleged errors and 
falsifications in Father Paul's history, which, at a first view, 
would seem to leave it scarcely any claims to credibility. 
But, on a careful examination, these errors are substantially 
diminished in number. d While it must be admitted that 
Father Paul's arrangement is unconnected and careless, that 
he repeatedly mistakes the dates, and misplaces the dis- 

d The following criticism is valuable, both on account of the writer 
from whom it proceeds and the honesty by which it is dictated : — " Ora 
ritornando al Pallavicino e alia Storia del Concilio di Trento, egli nell' 
atto medesimo che forma la Storia di quel gran Concilio, ribatte il Sarpi, 
ove il trova contrario a cib ch' ei vede fondato in autentici documenti, e 
ove gli sembra che egli combatte le opinioni de' piu accreditati teologi, 
o i dogmi della Chiesa Cattolica. Con qual forza e con qual evidenza il 
faccia, nol pub conoscere se non chi prende a confrontare 1' uno coll' altro 
storico. Io dire solo che il Pallavicino ha confutato il Sarpi, e finora 
non e stato confutato da alcuno ; per ciocche per confutazione io non 
intendo qualche declamazione contro di esso scritta, e contro le dottrine 
da lui o insegnate, o difese ; ma intendo un' opera in cui si prenda a 
mostrare che il Pallavicino a torto ha confutato il Sarpi nella maggior 
parte de' passi in cui lo combatte, e che i piu autentici monumenti son 
a favor e del Sarpi, e non del Pallavicino. Lo stile di questo scrittore h 
grave, elegante, e fiorito, e talvolta forse piu ancor del dovere ; per- 
ciocche meglio piacerebbe per avventura, se fosse piu facile e men sen- 
tenzioso." — Tiraboschi, Storia della Letteratura Italiana, v. viii. pt. i. 
p. 138. Another writer, Beccheti, Istoria degli Ultimi Quattro Secoli 
della Chiesa, vol. x. p. 79, is very bitter upon Father Paul ; but, from 
the general style of his history, he seems to be merely echoing the abuse 
of Pallavicino. Among older writings on the subject, the reader may 
compare the two following : — " Scipionis Henrici in Messanensi Aca- 
demia Doctoris Theologi censura theologica et historica adversus Petri 
Soave Polani de Concilio Tridentino Pseudo-historiam," Dilugae, in 
typ. Acad, mdcliv.; and "De tribus Historicis Concilii Tridentini, 
auctore Caesare Aquilinio," Amst. cioioclxii. 



PREFACE. xiii 

cussions, of the different congregations, it is equally certain 
that his good faith, if we consider his history as a whole, 
stands acquitted. Numberless instances, in which his state- 
ments have been taxed with unfairness, have received a 
corroboration from contemporary documents ; which proves 
that, however the works of the two Tridentine historians 
vary in detail, they agree in all substantial points. e I shall 
return to this subject, when I speak of the letters of Yargas, 
and the Acta of Paleotto. 

If the Roman court had a bitter and a clever enemy in 
the Venetian historian, it was fortunate in finding a defender 
in Cardinal Pallavicino — such a defender at least, as, however 
unconvincing to those, who had abandoned it as undeserving 
of confidence, was possessed of too deep a knowledge of 
every item in the scheme of Romanism, to fail in pleasing 
the taste of Roman Catholics. Born of a noble family, and 
enjoying high honours and influence, Conservatism was 
evidently the course marked out for him ; and his history is 
accordingly not merely a chronical of events, but a con- 
tinued commentary on every point in which a word can be 
said in favour of Rome. But he is not only passively con- 
servative, but actively aggressive. His work is a grand 
Philippic against Protestantism, coupled with a running 
commentary on the alleged misstatements of his predecessor. 
If Father Paul is at times uncharitable to particular persons, 
or harsh in his views of proceedings, Pallavicino is never 
the reverse. Utterly destitute of the power of appreci- 
ating anything founded on high and generous principles, 
he measures everything by its relation to the fortunes 
of the Vatican. He is a sort of ecclesiastical court jour- 

e The author of the life of Pallavicino, in the Biographie Universelle, 
v. xxxii. p. 451, observes : — "II s'opposa a ceile de Era Paolo, avec 
lequel il est pourtant d' accord dans l'essentiel des faits ; mais il en tire 
des consequences diame'tralement oppose'es." 



xiv 



PREFACE. 



nalist, and seldom betrays the bad taste to acknowledge 
honour or uprightness in an opponent. His history is far 
inferior in style to that of Father Paul ; his narrative 
is prosy and tedious ; his descriptive powers limited, and his 
observations on men and things savour more of scholastic 
rhetoric than natural eloquence or readiness of percep- 
tion^ To counterbalance these disadvantages, he certainly 
brings a minute acquaintance with documents, and an equally 
minute accuracy in chronological arrangement, which is often 
the means of calling his predecessor to order. His materials 
were undoubtedly better ; but it may be doubted whether he 
was capable of using them fairly ; whilst, as regards the tone 
of his writings, if Bossuet's remark be true on the one hand, 
that "Sarpi n'est partant l'historien que l'ennemi declare s 
du concile de Trent," Pallavicino has sunk the historian in 
the apologist ; has suppressed, if not falsified, matters making 
against his own views. He is as essentially a party- writer 
as his antagonist; but he has none of his honest desire for 
reformation, none of his generous sympathies with the 
struggles of men seeking the path from dogmatism to 
conviction. 

The discrepancy between the writings of these historians 
has been diligently and, for the most part, fairly sifted by the 
Abbe le Courayer, who, in his" translation of Father Paul, 

f This is never so well seen as when we compare him with the lively 
and acute Paleotto, when both are writing on Jie same subject. Take, 
for example, their respective accounts of the death of Seripando. His 
character of Luther, given in bk. v. ch. 7, of my own history, may be 
quoted as an example of strained attempt at eloquence, in which false 
antithesis and misapplied metaphor are the leading features. 

s Mr. Hallam seems fully of this opinion. "Much," he observes, 
" has been disputed about the religious tenets of Father Paul ; it appears 
to me quite out of doubt, both by the tenor of his history, and still more 
unequivocally, if possible, by some of his letters, that he was entirely 
hostile to the Church, in the usual sense, as well as to the court of Rome, 
sympathizing in affection, and concurring generally in opinion, with the 
reformed denomination." — Literature of Europe, v. iii. p. 43. 



PREFACE. 



XV 



has noticed every variation of importance, and has shown 
that Sarpi too often has the best of the evidence in his 
favour. At the same time, by his careful examination of 
every document and history he could meet with, he has 
furnished a valuable stock of materials, and greatly lightened 
the labours of succeeding historians of the council. But the 
researches of Mendham and Ranke, as well as the massive 
collection of documents published by Le Plat, have brought 
forward so much that is new and valuable, that the means of 
information, upon which the present little work has been 
based, are largely increased. 

In mentioning the labours of the Rev. Joseph Mendham, 
I have the pleasing task of acknowledging the great kindness 
I have received from so honoured a veteran in the study of 
a kindred subject. For his advice, and for the liberal 
presents of his own publications on the History of the 
Council — kindnesses the more to be esteemed as they were 
conferred upon a personal stranger — I must ever feel myself 
gratefully indebted. Without trenching on the minute and 
satisfactory account of his invaluable documents, given in 
the preface to his own history, h I will merely observe, that, 
as they are all from the pens of persons contemporary with, 
and personally engaged in, the transactions of the council, 
they furnish an insight into its inward policy, and into the 
feelings which directed and swayed its various movements, of 
which their learned and judicious collector has amply availed 
himself. My own obligations to the work of Mr. Mendham 
will be as readily perceived by my readers, as they have been, 
and must be, on all occasions freely acknowledged by myself. 

But there is another work which we also owe to the 

h 8vo. London, mdcccxxxiv. Mr. Mendham's library is well known 
for its remarkable completeness in literature appertaining to these sub- 
jects. The greater portion of the MSS. referred to in his preface were 
purchased at Mr. Thorpe's sale in 1832. They were originally in the 
possession of the earl of Guilford. 



xvi 



PREFACE. 



diligence of this well-known author, — I allude to his edition 
of the Acta of Paleotto, the deputy-secretary and auditor of 
the council. Of these Pallavicino and Paynaldus had made 
frequent use ; but, as he observes, and, it is to be feared, with 
too good reason, " the selected extracts from his Acts by the 
apologist and by the annalist, are indisputably to be ascribed 
to the necessity, under which they both felt themselves 
placed by the history of Paolo Sarpi, of fabricating a coun- 
teractor, not in the usual style of straightforward and 
palpable falsification, but with as much verisimilitude, and 
therefore with as much authentic and honest statement of 
fact, as their cause could afford, and turn to its own benefit. 
Unsupported opposition or point-blank denial would hardly 
prosper, even with the most prejudiced of their own com- 
munion ; and positive dishonesty, which could never be 
secure against detection, would be stark impolicy — an in- 
discretion not likely to be incurred by, or chargeable upon, 
anything papal." 1 

A minute comparison of this work with those of the two 
great historians, seems to me fully to justify what I have 
above asserted, respecting the excellence of Pallavicino in 
details and minute matters appertaining to the progress of 
the debates, and his inferiority as to a general insight into 
the broad principles of history. Every now and then, we feel 
surprised at the freedom of Paleotto's expressions. As far 
as the external history of the council is concerned, he gives 
us the highest idea both of Father Paul's truthfulness, and of 
his own impartial honesty. His abstracts of the debates — 
too long to receive adequate justice in a work of such 
dimensions as the present — are well deserving the attention 
of those who would go more deeply into the subject. Indeed, 

* Mendham, Preface, p. xiii. to his Acta Concilii Tridentini, a 
Gabriele Cardinale Paleotto descripta. Lond. mdcccxlii. 8vo. 



PREFACE. 



XVII 



as regards the latter sessions (to which his memoirs are, un- 
fortunately, confined), his work is a better historical study 
than the massive volumes of Pallavicino can furnish. 

I have made so much use of the clear-headed and laborious 
researches of Eanke, that he fairly claims a leading place in 
my preface ; and I am the more anxious to place his estimate 
of the two rival historians before my readers, as my own 
views, throughout my labour of compilation, have been much 
influenced by his opinions. 

" It has been asserted that the truth may be distinctly 
gathered from these two works combined. This mayferhaps 
be the case in a very large and general sense ; it is by no 
means so in particulars. 

" They both swerve from the truth, which certainly lies in 
the midst between them ; but it cannot be come at by con- 
jecture : truth is positive, original, and is not to be conceived 
by any accommodation of partial statements, but by a direct 
review of facts. 

"As we have seen, Sarpi says that a treaty had been con- 
cluded at Bologna ; Pallavicino denies this ; no conjecture in 
the world could hit upon the fact that the treaty was not 
made by word of mouth, but by writing, a fact which really 
reconciles the discrepancy. 

" They both distort Contarinis instruction ; there is no 
harmonizing their contradictions ; it is only when we refer 
to the original, that the truth strikes us. 

" Their minds were of the most opposite cast. Sarpi is 
keen, penetrating, caustic ; his arrangement is eminently 
skilful ; his style pure and unaffected, and although the 
Crusca will not admit him into the list of classic authors, 
probably on account of some provincialisms he exhibits, his 
work is really refreshing after all the pompous array of words 
through which we are forced to toil in other authors. His 

6 



XV111 



PREFACE. 



style coincides with his subject ; in point of graphic power 
he is certainly second among the modern historians of Italy : 
I rank him immediately after Machiavelli. 

"Nor is Pallavicino void of talent ; he draws many pointed 
and forcible parallels, and he often displays no little skill 
as the pleader for a party. But his talent is somewhat of a 
heavy and cumbrous cast : it is one that chiefly delights in 
turning phrases and devising subterfuges ; his style is over- 
loaded with words. Sarpi is clear and transparent to the 
very bottom ; Pallavicino is not wanting in continuous flow, 
but he is muddy, diffuse, and shallow. 

"Both are heart-and-soul partisans ; both lack the true 
spirit of the historian, that grasps its object in its full truth, 
and sets it in the broad light of day. Sarpi had certainly the 
talent requisite for this, but he will be an accuser and nothing 
more ; Pallavicino had it in a vastly lower degree, but he 
will be, by all means, the apologist of his party. 

" Neither can we obtain a full view of the substance of the 
case from the works of those two writers combined. It is 
a very remarkable circumstance, that Sarpi contains much 
that Pallavicino was never able to hunt out, many as were 
the archives thrown open to him. I will only mention a 
memoir of the nuncio Chieregato, concerning the consulta- 
tions at the court of Adrian VI., which is very important, 
and against which Pallavicino makes objection of no moment. 
Pallavicino also overlooks many things from a sort of inca- 
pacity. He cannot discover them to be of much consequence, 
and so he neglects them. On the other hand, Sarpi lacked 
a multitude of documents which Pallavicino possessed; the 
former saw but a small part of the correspondence of the 
Boman court with the legates. His errors spring for the 
most part from the want of original documents. 

" But in many cases they both are ignorant of important 
records. A little report by Cardinal Morone, who executed 



PREFACE. 



xix 



the decisive embassy to Ferdinand I., is of the highest 
moment as regards the history of the whole latter part of 
the council. Neither of them has made use of it." k 

The power and spirit which distinguish the views and the 
language of this author throughout his great work on the 
popes, render it an invaluable addition to our stock of 
political information ; whilst the stores of his learning, alike 
diffuse and recherche, compel the present writer to confess, 
that, had Professor Ranke devoted anything like an adequate 
volume to the subject, he must have contented himself with 
the task of translator. He may, however, claim the lesser 
merit of having been the first 1 to combine Hanke's remarks 
on the progress of this council with something like a regular 
history. 

To return once more to Pallavicino. Dr. Waterworth, a 
writer well known in the field of Roman Catholic theology, 
has appended to his translation of the " Decrees and Canons" 
two " Essays on the Internal and External History of the 
Council of Trent." In these he avowedly professes to forsake 
" the skilful but unfair history of Fra Paolo," and to make 
" continued use of the noble work of Pallavicino." His work 
is, in fact, little else than an abridgment of Pallavicino, and 

k Ranke's Popes, pt. iii. p. 377. At p. 370, sqq., we have a masterly- 
review, pointing out individual points of error in both authors, the 
result of which, as far as intentional suppression and dishonesty are 
concerned, is very unfavourable to Pallavicino, although Father Paul 
does not escape without censure. It must be recollected that Hanke's 
great acquaintance with the documents found in continental libraries 
gave him opportunities of sifting the truth, for which others must seek 
in vain. 

1 M. Bungener — a translation of whose work was announced soon 
after I had made known my own intention of publishing an historical 
sketch of the council — takes little notice of Hanke's researches. Indeed, 
his whole performance does not seem to supply any of the deficiencies 
which I particularly had in view in the present volume. He seems 
totally unacquainted with the researches of Mendbam, and his work is 
rather a series of querulous declamations against Popery than a history 
of the Council of Trent. 

b2 



XX 



PREFACE. 



combines all that writer's accuracy in respect to dates, and the 
proceedings of the sessions, with an elegance of style and a 
brevity not to be found in the original. As a clever and lucid 
epitoinizer, especially in his capabilities for disentangling the 
real heads of a debate from a mass of verbiage, I have con- 
stantly found him an useful guide. But the very fact that 
his information is confessedly derived from one source, and 
that source an apologetical writer, with whom Protestants 
can have little sympathy, prevents his otherwise judicious 
labours from being useful to those, who would hear more 
than one side of a question. In making this statement, I do 
not deny his acquaintance with other writers on the subject. 
I merely lament the bias which has hindered him from giving 
greater breadth to the principles, greater impartial utility to 
the details of his historical essays. !NTor have his natural 
predilections allowed him to be always a fair representative 
of the author he avowedly follows. Many intrigues and side- 
practices, to which Pallavicino confesses, are passed by or 
glossed over ; and . it may be doubted whether the cardinal 
and his English representative, viewed proportionately to the 
dimensions of their works, are not equally deserving of 
censure on this head. Dr. "Waterworth writes as a zealous 
Catholic ; his essays must be admired by every good Ro- 
manist — must dissatisfy those who do not look upon the 
interests of Rome and the whole well-being of mankind as 
identical. 

Such writers as Heidigger, Jurieu, and a host of others of 
still less note, have not been altogether neglected by me, 
although I have, with a few exceptions, derived little advan- 
tage from any of them. Grounded wholly upon Sarpi, and 
indiscriminately copying his inaccuracies and defects, with- 
out being able to imitate his vigorous thoughts or his 
elegance of expression, they bear about the same relation to 
the great original, as Eutropius or Paul Diaconus do to Livy. 



PREFACE. 



xxi 



Heicligger is sometimes sensible and shrewd ; but he is 
utterly uncritical, and unable to appreciate the finer qualities 
in the character of those whom be unsparingly abuses. 

Of Massarelli, Servanzio, and several other fragmentary 
diarists, together with the writers of epistles, pamphlets, pas- 
quinades, and other minor works connected with the council 
and its history, I have made use, more or less, throughout 
the whole work ; but a special notice of each would be 
beyond the reasonable limits of a preface. With the writings 
of Henke and Wessenberg I became acquainted at too late a 
period to make much use of them ; but as they appear to be 
based upon materials previously known, this is perhaps less 
to be regretted. The Italian history of Botta copies Palla- 
vicino almost exclusively, and the same remark applies to 
the voluminous work of Angelico Becchetti. 

I have said so much on the letters of Vargas in the proper 
place, that it is only necessary to state that their importance 
both in corroborating Father Paul's statements as to the 
conduct of the legates, and in proving the dependence of 
the council upon the papal will and pleasure, places them 
amongst the best materials which an historian could expect 
to obtain. m 

oSL boo§ ^va btniuiba ad team aid ; oiiodiaO 

m I may, however, be excused for inserting the following remarks 
of a writer whose style and judgment are always welcome : — 

" Our knowledge of the proceedings of this assembly is derived from 
three different authors. Father Paul, of Venice, wrote his History of 
the Council of Trent while the memory of what had passed there was 
recent, and some who had been members of it were still alive. He has 
exposed the intrigues and artifices by which it was conducted, with a 
freedom and severity which have given a deep wound to the credit and 
reputation of the council. He has described its deliberations, and 
explained its decrees, with such perspicuity and depth of thought, with 
such various erudition and such force of reason, as have justly entitled 
his work to be placed among the most admired historical compositions. 
About half a century thereafter, the Jesuit Pallavicino published hu 
history of the council, in opposition to that of Father Paul, and by 
employing all the force of an acute and refining genius to invalidate the 
credit, or to confute the reasonings of his antagonist, he labours to 
prove, by artful apologies for the proceedings of the council, and subtile 



XXII 



PREFACE. 



Having spoken thus far of my predecessors in the task, I 
will add a few words in respect to the plan which I have 
myself attempted to realize. 

My main purpose has been to follow Pallavicino in the 
history of the proceedings at each session, more especially 
when his narrative was corroborated by Paleotto. At the 
same time, I have freely introduced passages and reports of 
speeches from Father Paul, 11 and have at all times noticed 
such discrepancies as seemed of real import to the reader. 
In the notes I have briefly touched upon certain leading 
errors, which appeared to derive their origin, or receive cor- 
roboration, from the verdict of the Tridentine fathers; and 
in this task I have preferred using the words of standard 
Church of England divines to my own. But as regards the 
external history — for be it remembered that the history of 
the Council of Trent is almost the history of Europe during 
the time of its convocation — I have derived far more assist- 

interpretation of its decrees, that it deliberated with impartiality and 
decided with judgment as well as candour. Vargas, a Spanish doctor 
of laws, who was appointed to attend the imperial ambassadors at Trent, 
sent the bishop of Arras a regular account of the transactions there, 
explaining all the arts which the legates employed to influence and over- 
awe the council. His letters have been published, in which he inveighs 
against the papal court with that asperity of judgment which was 
natural to a man whose situation enabled him to observe its arts 
thoroughly, and who was obliged to exert all his attention and talents 
in order to disappoint them. 

"But," continues the same writer, " whichsoever of these writers an 
intelligent person takes for his guide, in forming a judgment concerning 
the spirit of the council, he must discover so much ambition as well as 
artifice among some of the members, so much ignorance and corruption 
among others, he must observe such a large infusion of human policy 
and passions, but such a scanty portion of that simplicity of heart, 
sanctity of manner, and love of truth, which alone qualify men to deter- 
mine what doctrines are worthy of God, and what worship is acceptable 
to him, that he will find it no easy matter to believe that any extraor- 
dinary influence of the Holy Ghost hovered over this assembly and dic- 
tated its decrees." — Robertson, Life of Charles V. vol. iii. p. 247, sqq. 

n I have chiefly used Brent's quaint translation, but with many 
alterations. The Italian edition I quote is that of London, mdcxix., 
when chapters are specified, Le Courayer's French edition is intended. 



PREFACE. 



XX111 



ance from Father Paul, to say nothing of writers like Bur- 
net, Mosheini, Panke, Roscoe, and various authors connected 
with the life of Luther, and of the ecclesiastical history of 
the period. And here I must apologize for a difficulty, of 
which Father Paul was fully aware, viz., the obscurity which 
arises from blending the proceedings of the council with the 
narrative of contemporary events. I am sensible, even now, 
that the connection of parts will not always be immediately 
recognised, and I must crave some indulgence, especially 
from the necessary brevity of my work. 

Throughout the volume I have freely expressed my own 
opinions; but I earnestly deprecate the intention to give 
offence to the upright and honest of any creed soever. If 
my language has been at times bold in its censure, I feel 
better prepared to meet a like tone in the reply of an oppo- 
nent, than to court the qualified praise sought by those who 
can neither heartily agree nor differ. If I have unhesi- 
tatingly condemned the Council of Trent as a whole, I feel 
conscious of having oftentimes sought to do justice to the 
fair fame of individuals. Many were there among the 
members of this assembly, who, while unable to avoid 
the errors incidental to man's assumption of infallibility, 
were too far removed from the rest, both in the grandeur 
of the part they played in the theatre of this world, and 
in the integrity with which they sustained the character, 
not to claim their position among the archives of good and 
great men. 

As it is my intention to publish a translation of the Con- 
fession of Augsburg, accompanied by an historical sketch of 
that assembly, and, should the scheme succeed, to give 
editions of various Protestant documents of a like character, 
I trust to have better opportunities of doing justice to the 
early Reformers than have presented themselves during the 
course of the present work. 



xxiv 



PREFACE. 



In conclusion, I must briefly but most thankfully acknow- 
ledge my obligations to a few of the friends who have aided 
me, in various ways, through this task, and more especially 
to Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie, Esq., and the Rev. John 
Wood, M.A., of Merton College, to whose patient industry 
in transcribing and verifying quotations I have before been 
indebted. 

Theodore Alois Buckley, 

Christ Church. 



inxx ,iaho 

V1XX <iahO 
— .VXX .iahO 
— .IVXX „iahO 
- IIYXX hauO 



r XX .iahO 



CONTENTS. 



PAET THE FIRST. 

Chap. I. — Indulgences first suggested by Papal Extra- 
vagance . . . . . . . . Page 1 

Chap. II. — The Abuse of Indulgences by Tetzel . . 4 

Chap. III. — Luther impugns the System of Indulgences 6 
Chap. IY. — Conduct of Pope Leo X. Luther assails the 

Papal Supremacy . . . . . . . . 10 

Chap. V. — Luther cited to appear . . . . . . 12 

Chap. VI. — Luther appears at Augsburg . . . . 13 

Chap. VII. — Leo X. issues a Bull respecting Indulgences 14 

Chap. VIII. — Miltitz is sent to the Elector . . . . 15 

Chap. IX. — Disgrace and Death of Tetzel ; . , , 17 

Chap. X. — The Dispute between Luther and Eck . . 18 

Chap. XI. — Zwingle stirs up Reform in Switzerland . . 21 

Chap. XII. — Leo X. fulminates a Bull against Luther . . 22 

Chap. XIII.— Luther burns the Papal Bull .. 23 
Chap. XIV. — Aleander is despatched as Nuncio. Conduct 

of Erasmus . . . . . . . . . . 25 

Chap. XV. — Opposition to and Progress of the Reformation 2 7 

Chap. XVI. — Luther summoned to the Diet of Worms . . 28 

Chap. XVII. — He appears before the Diet . . . . . . 30 

Chap. XVIII. — Luther is dismissed from Worms. His 

Seizure and Captivity . . . . . . 32 

Chap. XIX. — Luther is placed under the Imperial Ban . . 34 

Chap. XX. — Death of Leo, who is succeeded by Adrian VI. 35 

Chap. XXI. — Clement VII. succeeds to the Papal Throne 37 
Chap. XXII. — Increased Ill-feeling between Clement and 

Charles . . . . 40 

Chap. XXIII. — They again coalesce . . . . . . . . 41 

Chap. XXIV.— Second Diet of Spires 42 

Chap. XXV. — Controversy between Luther and Zwingle . . 45 

Chap. XXVI. — Confession of Augsburg . . . . 46 

Chap. XXVII. — General Dissatisfaction at the Edict of 

Augsburg . . . . . . . . 51 

Chap. XXVIII. — Protestant League at Smalcald . . . . 53 

Chap. XXIX. — Terms of Peace between the Emperor and 

the Protestants . . . . . . . . 54 

Chap. XXX.— Meeting of Charles and the Pontiff . . . . 55 

Chap. XXXI. — TJnprosperous Conclusion of Clement VII. 's 

Reign . . . . . . . . . . 57 

Chap. XXXII.— Paul III. ascends the Papal Throne. Ver- 

gerius sent into Germany . . . , 59 



xxvi 



CONTENTS. 



Chap. XXXIII. — Meeting of Vergerius and Luther . . . . 60 

Chap. XXXIV.— New Protest of Smalcald 61 

Chap. XXXV. — The Seat of the Council transferred to Vicenza 63 

Chap. XXXVI. — Further Suspension of the Council .. .. 67 

Chap. XXXVII. — Various Attempts to effect a Reconciliation 68 
Chap. XXXVIII. — The Conventions at Hagenau and Worms. 

Meeting convened at Ratisbon . . . . 70 

Chap. XXXIX. — Discussion at Ratisbon . . . . . . 73 

Chap. XL. — Meeting of the Emperor and the Pope at 

/ Lucca . . . . . . . . . . 77 

Chap. XLL— The Council of Trent indicted at the Diet of 
Spires . . . . . . ' j ./. / i kii'J 

Chap. XLII. — Mutual Criminations of the Emperor and 

Francis I. of France . . . . . . 78 

Chap. XLIIL— The Legates sent to Trent 80 

Chap. XLIV. — Granvel and Mendoza at Trent. The Council 

prorogued . . . . . . . . . . 81 

Chap. XLV. — Meeting of the Emperor and the Pope . . 82 

Chap. XL VI.— The Diet of Spires 84 

Chap. XLVII. — Peace concluded between Charles and Francis 86 

Chap. XL VIII. — The Legates sent to Trent. Various Delays 88 



PART THE SECOND. 

Chap. I. — Opening Ceremonials of the Council. First 

Session .... . . . . . . 97 

Chap. II. — Strictures on the Oration of the Bishop of 
Bitonto. Further particulars touching the 
First Session . . . . . . . . 98 

Chap. III. — Preparations for the Second Session . . 100 

Chap. IV. — Preparatory Congregations for the Third 

Session . . . . . . .... 103 

Chap. V.— The Third Session 106 

Chap. VI. — Dissatisfaction at Rome . . . . . . 108 

Chap. VII. — Reformation in Germany. Death of Luther ih. 
Chap. VIII. — War meditated against the Protestants . . Ill 
Chap. IX. — Preliminary Congregations to the Fourth 

Session .. .. • I. I [1.7 .a.A ti.' ) 112 

Chap. X. — Continuation of the Congregations. State of 

the Scriptures after Translation . . . . 117 

Chap. XI. — The Bishop of Bitonto cited to Rome . . 119 
Chap. XII. — Arrival of Don Francis of Toledo and Cita- 
/ tion of Vergerius . . . . . . . . ih. 

c/Chap. XIII. — On the Formation of the Decree respecting 

the Reception of Scripture and- Traditions 121 
Chap. XIV. — Dispute respecting the Anathema against the 
Violation of Scripture and Tradition. The 

Vulgate 122 

Chap. XV. — Dispute on the Reception and Authority of 

the Vulgate 124 



CONTENTS. 



XXVll 



Chap. XVI. — Touching the Interpretation and Non-abuse 

of Scripture. The Fourth Session 127 

Chap. XVII. — Affairs in Germany and at Borne .. .. 130 

Chap. XVIII. — Excommunication of the Elector of Cologne 131 

Chap. XIX. — Preparatory Congregations . . . . . . 132 

Chap. XX. — Touching the Immaculate Conception, and 

Limbo • also of Baptism . . . . . . 135 

Chap. XXI. — Congregations on the Subject of Reformation 137 
Chap. XXII.— The Fifth Session. The Emperor's Inten- 
tions become more apparent . . . . 139 

Chap. XXIII. — War declared against the Protestants i . 140 
Chap. XXIV.— Preparatory Congregation, &c. for the Sixth 

Session. Doctrine of Justification, &c. . . 142 

Chap. XXV. — Further Discussions concerning Justification 147 

Chap. XXVI.— Progress of the War. Alarm at Trent . . 149 

Chap. XXVII. — Further Proceedings respecting Justification 151 

Chap. XXVIII. — Controversies respecting Residence . . . . 152 

Chap. XXIX. — -Success of the Emperor's Arms in Germany 155 

Chap. XXX. — The Sixth Session is celebrated . . . . 156 

Chap. XXXI. — Preliminary Congregations to the Seventh 

Session. Of the Sacraments . . . . 158 

Chap. XXXII. — Deliberations on the Propositions . . . . 162 

Chap. XXXIII. — Decrees touching Reformation. Difficulties 

thereof . . . . . . . . . . 165 

Chap. XXXIV.— The Seventh g<*jsion 166 

PART THE THIRD. 

Chap. I. — Transference of the Council to Bologna . . 167 
Chap. II. — Ostensible Causes of the Translation of the 

blidT 9&t 10) Council . . . . . . . . . . 170 

Chap. III. — The Eighth Session. Decree for the Trans- 
ference of the Council . . . . . . 173 

Chap. IV. — Feelings at Rome on the Subject . . . . 174 

Chap. V. — Breve for the Safe-conduct to Bologna . . 176 

Chap. VI. — Proceedings of the Emperor . . . . . . 177 

Chap. VII. — Advice of Don Diego 178 

Chap. VIII.— The Tenth Session 179 

Chap. IX. — Further Delays. Ranke's Reflections . . 180 

Chap. X. — Proceedings of Sfondrato .. ... .. 181 

Chap. XI. — Diet at Augsburg 183 

Chap. XII.— Murder of Pietro Luigi. State of Affairs . . 184 
Chap. XIII. — Prorogation of the Council to an Indefinite 

Period 186 

Chap. XIV. — Further Proceedings of the Pope. Cervini 

recalled to Rome . . . . . . 187 

Chap. XV. — Proceedings of Del Monte at Bologna . . 188 
Chap. XVI. — Protestation against the Demands of the 

lo YihuiiijjA i)iw} Gou|eilr:> 190 

Chap. XVII.— Conduct of the Prelates 192 



xxviii 



CONTENTS. 



Chap. XYTII. — State of Affairs between the Pope and the 

Emperor 193 

Chap. XIX.— The Interim 194 

Chap. XX. — The Emperor puts forward Propositions of 

Reformation . . . . . . 198 

Chap. XXI. — Refusal of the Emperor to yield up Piacenza. 

Last Effort of the Pope in favour of the 
Assembly at Bologna . . . . . . 199 

Chap. XXII.— Suspension of the Council 200 

Chap. XXIII.— Death of Paul III 201 

Chap. XX I Y. — Cardinal Del Monte appointed successor to 

Paul III 205 

Chap. XXV.— Translation of the Council 206 

Chap. XXVI.— Bull for the Resumption of the Council . . 208 

Chap. XXVII.— Different Opinions thereon 209 

Chap. XXVIII.— Disputes about Parma 211 

Chap. XXIX.— Eleventh Session 212 

Chap. XXX.— The Twelfth Session . . 213 

Chap. XXXI. — Further Bad Feeling between the Pope and 

Henry II 214 

Chap. XXXII. — Preparations for the Thirteenth Session . . 217 
Chap. XXXIII. — Remarks on the Previous Session. Epistles 

of Vargas 221 

Chap. XXXIV. — Concluding Measures of the Thirteenth 

Session *. . 224 

Chap. XXXV — The Safe-con(fcict 225 

Chap. XXXVI. — Congregations respecting the Sacraments of 
■ Penance and Extreme Unction. Con- 
demned Articles . . . . . . 228 

Chap. XXXVII. — Decrees on Reformation. Letters of Vargas. 

The Fourteenth Session held . . . . 235 

Chap. XXXVIII. — Arrival of the Ambassadors from Wittemberg 238 
Chap. XXXIX. — Congregations on the Sacrament of Orders. . 240 
Chap. XL. — The Protestant Ambassadors heard in Con- 
gregation . . . . . . . . . . 243 

Chap. XLL— New Difficulties. Defeat of the Emperor. 

Suspension of the Council. . . . . . 247 

Chap. XLII.— Concluding Events in the Life of Julius III. 250 

Chap. XLIIL— Pope Marcellus II . . 253 

Chap. XLIV. — Macaulay's Remarks on the Change of the 

Papal Character. Pope Paul IV. . . 254 

Chap. XLV.— Election of Pope Pius IV 262 

Chap. XL VI. — Bull for the Continuation of the Council . . 267 
Chap. XL VII. — Proceedings previous to the Seventeenth 

Session .. ..'^'".7 .. .. 270 

Chap. XLVIIL— The Seventeenth Session .273 

Chap. XLIX. — Preliminaries to the Eighteenth Session. 

The Index Expurgatorius . . . . . . 278 

Chap. L. — Further Congregations. The Eighteenth 

Session 282 



CONTENTS. 



xxix 



Chap. LI. — Opinions respecting the Decrees. Safe- 
conduct . . . . . . . . 284 

Chap. LII. — Preparations of the Decrees on Reformation. 

Arrivals at Trent 287 

Chap. LIII. — Disputes on the Subject of Residence . . 290 

Chap. LIV.— Letters from Rome, &c. &c 296 

Chap. LY. — Arrival of the French Ambassadors. Fur- 
ther Difficulties. The Twentieth Session 298 
Chap. LVI. — Touching the Communion under both kinds. 

Demands of the Bavarian Ambassadors . . 300 
Chap. LVII. — Discussion respecting the Communion under 
both kinds. Influences of the Scholastic 

Philosophy . . . . 304 

Chap. LYIII. — Decrees on Reformation . . . . . . 309 

Chap. LIX. — Continued Disputes respecting Residence. 

Letters of Yisconti . . .. .. .. 311 

Chap. LX.— The Twenty-first Session 312 

Chap. LXI. — Reconciliation of the Cardinal of Mantua and 
Simonetta. Questions relating to the 

Mass . . . . 315 

Chap. LXII. — Discontent of the French Ambassadors. 

Advice of the Pope . . . . . . 317 

Chap. LXIII. — Congregations respecting the Sacrifice of the 

Mass , 318 

Chap. LXIY. — Discussions .respecting the Grant of the 

Chalice . . ..324 

Chap. LXY. — Debates on the Grant of the Cup .. ..325 

Chap. LXVI. — Debates respecting the Mass 333 

Chap. LXYII. — The Disputes respecting the Grant of the 

Chalice resumed . . . . . . 335 

Chap. LXYI II.— Reformation. Abuses of the Mass . . . . 336 

Chap. LXIX.— Letters of Yisconti 338 

Chap. LXX.— The Twenty-second Session 339 

-jtioO ni 'bread atobfigfeiKiiiiA ifiAjgoJoVI ariT — ,JlX ,iahO 

PART THE FOURTH. 

Chap. L — Demands of the Ambassadors . . . . 343 
Chap. II. — Propositions on the Sacrament of Order . . 346 
Chap. III. — On the Subject of Reformation. Fresh Dif- 
ficulties. Proposals to Pius . . . . 351 

Chap. IV.— Reply of Pius 352 

Chap. V.— Discussions on the Canons . . . . . . 354 

Chap. VI. — Oration of Diego Lain ez .. .. .. 357 

Chap. VII. — Remarks on Father Paul's Report of this 

Speech 361 

Chap. VIII.— Want of Freedom in the Council. Opinion 

of Danz 363 

Chap. IX. — Further Disputes on the Divine Right of 

Bishops. Departure of Cardinal Altemps 365 



XXX 



CONTENTS. 



Chap. X. — Proceedings of the Pontiff and of the Legates 369 
Chap. XI. — Remarks of Pallavicino on the altered Opinion 

of Pius IV 370 

Chap. XII. — Arrival of the Cardinal of Lorraine . . . . 3 71 

Chap. XIII. — Further Proceedings. Speech of Lorraine 374 
Chap. XIV. — Remarks on the Seventh Canon. Further 

Proceedings of Lorraine . . . . . . 377 

Chap. XY. — Further Discussions and Delays . . . . 378 

Chap. XYI. — Lorraine is consulted by the Legates. The 
Seventh Canon is again altered. Dissatis- 
faction of the French . . . . . . 383 

Chap. XYII. — Further Changes in the Canon . . . . 385 

Chap. XYIII. — Decree of Residence. Prorogation of the 

Council 387 

Chap. XIX. — Departure of Yisconti for Rome . . . . 388 
Chap. XX. — Yarious Events towards the Close of the 

Year 1562 390 

Chap. XXL- — Thirty-four Demands presented by the 

French Ambassador . . . . . . 397 

Chap. XXII. — Arrival of Yisconti. Reception of the 

French Propositions at Rome . . . . 401 

Chap. XXIII.— Letters of Yisconti 403 

Chap. XXIY. — Articles proposed respecting Matrimony . . 405 
Chap. XXY.— Letters from the French King ..406 
Chap. XXYL — Lorraine goes to Inspruck. Return of Com- 

mendone . . . . . . . . . . 409 

Chap. XXYIL— State of Things up to the Death of the First 

Legate . . . . . . . . . . 412 

Chap. XXYIIL— Death of the Cardinal of Mantua and of 

Seripando . . . . . . . . . . 413 

Chap. XXIX. — First Proceedings of Cardinal Morone . . 418 
Chap. XXX. — Conference of Morone and the Emperor . . 419 
Chap. XXXI. — Letters from Mary Queen of Scots. Dis- 
putes in the Synod . . . . 422 

Chap. XXXII. — Return of Morone from Inspruck. Proro- 
gation of the Session . . X . . 426 
Chap. XXXIII. — Further Disputes. The Session again pro- 
rogued . . . . . . . . 427 

Chap. XXXIY. — Further Discussions on the Right of Proctors 
to Suffrage, and arrival of Birague. Other 

Events 429 

Chap. XXXY. — Continued Discussions on the Abuse of Orders 433 
Chap. XXX YI. — Proposal of De Ferrier. Liberty given by 

the Pontiff . . 435 

Chap. XXXVII.— Speech of Lainez 437 

Chap. XXXYIII. — Proceedings of Birague. Proposed Con- 
demnation of Queen Elizabeth . . . . 440 

Chap. XXXIX. — Discussions immediately preceding the 

Twenty- third Session . . . . . . 442 

Chap. XL.— The Twenty-third Session 445 



CONTENTS. 



xxxi 



Chap. XLI. — Opposition of the Count di Luna. Conduct 

of the Legates . . . . . . . . 446 

Chap. XLTI. — Discussion on Clandestine Marriages. Forty- 
two Articles of Reform . . . . . . 448 

Chap. XLIII. — Discontent of Lorraine and De Ferrier . . 450 
Chap. XLIV. — Further Proceedings of the Count di Luna. . 452 
Chap. XLV. — Discussions respecting Marriage . . . . 455 

Chap. XL VI. — The Archbishop of Toledo liberated from 

Censure . . . . . . . . . . 459 

Chap. XL VII. — Further Delays 460 

Chap. XL VIII. — Renewed Discussions on Marriage . . . . 461 

Chap. XLIX. — Further Disputes . . . . . . . . 464 

Chap. L. — Revival of the Dispute about the Represent- 
ing Clause. Prorogation of the Session . . 467 
Chap. LI. — Departure of Lorraine and other French 

Prelates . . . . . . . . 468 

Chap. LIL — Discussions respecting the Propositions of 

Reform .. .. 469 

Chap. LIU. — Renewal of the Dispute respecting the Pro- 
posing Clause . . L . . . . 476 

Chap. LIV. — Discussions on Reformation. Remarks of 

Ranke . . . . . . . . . . 478 

Chap. LV. — Last Congregation previous to the Twenty- 
fourth Session . . . . . . . . 482 

Chap. L VI.— The Twenty-fourth Session 485 

Chap. LVII. — Remarks on the Previous Session. Attempt 

to excommunicate the Queen of Navarre 488 
Chap. LVIII. — Desire for a Conclusion of the Council . . 491 
Chap. LIX. — Preliminary Meetings to the Twenty -fifth 

Session . . . . . . . . . . 494 

Chap. LX.— The Twenty-fifth Session 500 

Chap. LXI. — Reception of the News at Rome. Confirma- 
tion of the Council . . . . . . . . 502 

Chap. LXII. — The Interpretation of the Decrees forbidden 505 
Chap. LXIII. — Reception of the Decrees of the Council . . 507 
Chap. LXIV. — Further Remarks on the alleged Freedom of 
the Council. Position of England in rela- 
tion thereunto. Letter of Bishop J ewell 509 
Chap. LXV. — Charge of Ignorance against the Members of 
the Council untenable. Remarks of Ranke 
on the General Bearing of the Council. 
Its Inefficiency in Restraining Papal En- 
croachments . . . . . . 515 

Chap. LXVL— Creed of Pope Pius IV 519 

Chronological Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . 523 

Addenda et Corrigenda . . . . 541 



THE HISTORY 

OF THE 

COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



PART THE FIRST. 
CHAPTER L 

Indulgences first suggested by Papal extravagance. 

In considering the Reformation which led to the attempt 
at a counter-reform at the Council of Trent, we may justly 
assert, that whoever discovered the art of printing was the 
first reformer; since to that artw^eowe the overturning of many 
ancient prejudices in science as well as in divinity, although 
no one will deny that it has likewise been the means of 
propagating many new ones, equally extravagant and ill 
founded. But this is especially true of religious reform, 
wherein Biblical knowledge, drawn pure and unadulterate 
from its native source, can alone shake tradition and usage 
from their pedestals of prescription, can alone test their 
claims, and admit and reject them according to the unerring 
touchstone of God's word revealed. 

Whilst the knowledge of the Bible, disseminated through 
the medium of the translations published by Wickliffe and 
Tindall, served to furnish the means of prosecuting the 
thoughts awakened in humbler minds by the spirit of truth, 
the researches of Erasmus, displayed in Ins paraphrase and 
annotations on the New Testament, his wit and irony ever 
sending forth bitter invectives against the ignorance of the 
monks and friars of his time, a and the still more potent 

a He was, perhaps, even more ambitious of reviving learning than 
religion ; "it was popish ignorance as much as popish heterodoxy that 
called him out." — Blunt's Reformation in England, ch. vi. p. 104. 

B 



2 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



charges, because more sincere, which were brought by Luther 
against the corruptions of the Church of Home, would all 
have fallen listless and ineffectual, had not the press lent its 
aid as their medium of communication. Well then has the 
art of printing, at this period of the revival of the Gospel, 
been looked upon as an antitype to the miraculous gift of 
tongues in the age of its first delivery to men. b 

But the influence of the press in the revival of classical 
literature was, indirectly, of equal service towards realizing 
this wonderful work. By refining the fallen tastes of Italy, 
by seeking to bring back the eloquence and purity of the 
language of Old Borne, and filling the proud city with 
temples and images that vied with those of the Capitol, 
paganism and popery were symbolically assimilating. Incon- 
gruous magnificence is ever dangerous or absurd. In the 
case of Borne it proved the former, and the splendid reign of 
Leo the Tenth exhausted religion itself to find subterfuges 
whereby to raise means for the support of magnificence 
which was destined to shake the foundations of the church 
it was intended to adorn. 

An attempt to engraft the symbols and decorations of pa- 
gan antiquity on a system purporting to ground its faith on 
the dictates of the Gospel, was a mistake that the lover of art 
can well pardon ; but which was vitally important in its con- 
sequences to the whole state of Christendom. Nor were these 
consequences such as any reformed Christian can regret, how 
different soever they may have proved from the intent con- 
templated by those who were mstrumental to their production. 

" Was it not highly significant," says Banke, " that a pope 
himself undertook to pull down the old basilica of St. Peter, 
the metropolitan church of Christendom, every spot in which 
was hallowed ; in which were gathered together the memorials 
of so many centuries' veneration, and to erect in its stead a 
temple planned after the proportions of antiquity ? It was a 
purpose in which art was exclusively concerned. Both the 
factions which then divided the jealous and contentious 
world of art united in urging Julius II. to the design. 
Michael Angelo wished for a fitting site for the pope's 
monument, which he proposed to complete upon a vast 



b Blunt's Reformation in England, ch. vi. p. 109. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



scheme, with, all the lofty grandeur we behold in his Moses. 
Bramante was still more urgent. He longed to put in ope- 
ration the bold conception of uplifting on colossal columns 
an imitation of the Pantheon in all its greatness. Many car- 
dinals opposed the plan ; and it would even seem that there 
was a general feeling against it : a multitude of personal 
feelings and affections are bound up with the existence of 
every old church, and this was an unparalleled measure with 
the highest sanctuary of Christendom. But Julius II. was 
not used to defer to contradiction. Without farther con- 
sideration, he had half the old church pulled down, and laid 
the foundation of the new one with his own hand. 

" Thus rose again in the heart of the Christian worship the 
forms in which the spirit of the o]d religions had so strikingly 
embodied themselves. Bramante built at San Pietro, in Mon- 
torio, over the blood of the martyr, a chapel in the light and 
cheerful form of a peripteros. 

"If this involved a contradiction, it was one that pervaded 
the whole being and habits of the times. 

"Men went to the Vatican less for the purpose of adora- 
tion at the threshold of the Apostles, than to admire the 
great works of ancient art in the dwelling of the pope, the Bel- 
vedere Apollo, and the Laocoon. As strong representations 
as ever were made to the pope, urging him to set on foot a 
war against the infidels ; I find this, for instance, in a pre- 
face of Eavagero's ; but the author had no thought in this 
for the interests of Christianity, or for the conquest of the 
Hqjy Sepulchre ; his cherished hope was, that the pope 
would discover the lost writings of the Greeks, and perhaps 
of the Romans." c 

We have not leisure to dwell upon the interesting reign 
of Leo the Tenth, or to enter into the question how far his 
personal abilities d and tastes may have been interested in 
the promotion of literary refinement and architectural mag- 
nificence, which has become almost proverbially associated 
with this fortunate scion of the house of the Medici. But, 

c P. 21. Ranke's aesthetic remarks are, in spirit at least, realized in 
the return to Gothic architecture in the ecclesiastical structures of the 
present day. 

d These are rather underrated by Mosheim, H. E. Cent. xvi. ch. i. 7. 
Eanke exhibits him in a much more favourable light, p. 22. 

15 2 



ff 



4 



THE HISTOPwY OF THE 



whatever may have been his real disposition, it is certain 
that a constant life of pleasure in no way interfered with a 
most business-like determination to aggrandize the Roman 
See ; and that his religious feelings, if he ever had any, were 
insufficient to raise the slightest scruples in his mind as to 
the means or agents to be employed in that profitable under- 
taking. But if Leo shared the vices of many previous popes, 
he had greater excuses in his youth, and in the fact that, 
like Talleyrand in more recent times, he had been devoted 
to the ecclesiastical profession almost before he could have 
any voice in the matter, and, like the modern priest-poli- 
tician, with a sole view to temporal aggrandizement. 

The magnificent schemes of the arrogant but warlike 
Julius II. had found a fitting promoter in the youthful Leo, 
who set about the rebuilding of St. Peter's at Rome in a 
style that, assisted by extravagant largesses to his own rela- 
tions, 6 speedily rendered the papal resources bankrupt. Al- 
though Leo had too much good taste to give way to the 
loathsome debaucheries of his predecessor Alexander, there 
is little doubt but that large sums were lavished in the sup- 
port of characters little suited to be the companions of the 
private moments of the head of the Christian Church. 

CHAPTER II. 

The Abuse of Indulgences by Tetzel. 

In so unprosperous a state of financial affairs, Cardinal 
Pucci di Santiquatro suggested the idea of reviving the sale 
of indulgences, which had proved so profitable to Urban II. 
at the time of the Crusades. f Although, as Pallavicino 
thinks, the application for these " alms of the faithful" & 
may have been limited to particular districts, there is little 

e See Sarpi, Histoire du Concile de Trente (by Courayer), v. i. p. 14, 
sqq. ed. 4to. Amst. 1736. This editor's notes, "although he is not 
much less of a Protestant than his original, are more candid, and gene- 
rally very judicious." — Hallam, v. i. p. 370. The subject of indulgences 
is very tenderly handled by Pallavicino, i. 2, 6. 

f See Courayer, note on Sarpi, I. c. p. 13, m 21, who well refutes the 
attempt of Pallavicino to assert a higher antiquity for the sale of indul- 
gences. 

s Waterworth, ch. i. p. iv. 



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5 



doubt that, but for adverse circumstances, it would have 
been carried out universally. 11 

I have not space to enter into some of the doubts cast 
upon Luther's motives for his opposition to the sale of indul- 
gences, especially as a better opportunity of discussing the 
question may occur hereafter ; but it is just to mention that 
the letters apostolic, which granted these indulgences, were 
for the most part expedited in the years 1514-15, and pro- 
mulgated in 1516, and that the opposition on the part of 
Luther did not openly begin until the year 151 7. x Never- 
theless, this proves no laxity in the conduct of Luther. 
Perhaps, on the contrary, his unwillingness to provoke 
schism upon grounds at all doubtful may have led him to wait 
until the aggravations of the indulgence system cried loudly 
for reform. Moreover, it is probable that the abuses did 
not extend so soon to Germany as to other places. 

Whether Tetzel, the Dominican, was the direct emissary 
of Leo, or merely the agent of Albert of Brandenburg, the 
pontiff's delegate, archbishop-elector of Mainz, and bishop 
of Magdeburg, he seems to have been a person utterly desti- 
tute of conscience of any kind. Arrogant, avaricious, and 
unprincipled, he proclaimed the efficacy of the papal indul- 
gences in forgiving all sins, past, present, and future. Like 
some mountebank with a newly- discovered panacea, he went 
about with all the bustle and parade likely to attract notice, 
and amid the miscellaneous groups congregated in the mar- 
ket-place or the tavern, he set forth in pompous language 
the value of his specific, and offered it for sale with the 
most unblushing effrontery. Even the ordinary vices of 
mankind were too feeble to show the virtues of this nos- 
trum, and he imagined the most blasphemous and far-fetched 
conceptions of human guilty alleging, at the same time, 

h Courayer, I. c. n. 22. Waterworth merely echoes Pallavicino. 
* Waterworth, I. c. p. v. 

j i( He preached that if any one had violated the Holy Virgin, his sin 
would be pardoned by virtue of the indulgences ; that the red cross 
which he had set up in churches had as much efficacy as that of Jesus 
Christ ; that he had saved more souls by his indulgences than St. Peter 
by his discourses ; and that the Saxons had only to give money, and their 
mountains would become mines of silver." — Michelet, Add. p. 84. 
u Tetzel was distinguished by a fine person, imposing manner, and 
sonorous voice At the time when Luther's attack gave him 



6 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



whenever the money rattles in the pope's coffers, all will 
be expiated." 

Although there ea,n be Uttle doubt that Luther, like 
many before him, had felt strongly opposed to many points 
of the practice of the Romish church, if not sceptical as to 
the fundamental soundness of her doctrines, and although, 
as may be inferred from his own subsequent letters, a hatred 
towards the* court of Rome seems already to have rankled in 
his mind, k still it cannot be denied that the system of in- 
dulgences, if not the primary cause, was the immediate and 
powerful occasion of his opposition to the Papal See. 

CHAPTER III. 

Luther impugns the System of Indulgences. 

Luther, perhaps instigated by certain superiors of his own 
order, began his opposition to indulgences in private dis- 
courses amongst his acquaintance, and subsequently in ser- 
mons, in which he bitterly inveighed against the avarice of 
Rome. Probably emboldened by the effects of his eloquence 
upon those around him, and aroused by a consciousness of 
the duties of his position, 1 he addressed a letter to the arch- 
bishop of Mainz, to whom the pope had delegated the 
superintendence of the sale of indulgences in Germany. I 
borrow the following abridged sketch of his letter from 
Michelet, m as the original is too long for insertion. It bears 
date Oct. 31, 1517. 

" Venerable father in God, most illustrious prince, vouch- 
safe to cast a favourable eye on me who am but dust and 

unenviable immortality, lie was sixty- three years of age, but might have 
passed for a much younger man, as there was little or no appearance of 
decay about him." — D'Aubigne, Hist, of the Ref. 

k Pallav. i. iv. referring to his letter to the people of Strasburgh. 
— Waterworth. 

1 "As doctor of theology and influential professor of the university of 
Wittemburgh, which the elector had just founded, as provincial vicar of 
the Austin friars, and the vicar-general's substitute in the pastoral charge 
and visitation of Misnia and Thuringia, he no doubt thought himself 
more responsible than any one else for the safeguard of the Saxon faith. 
His conscience was aroused. He ran a great risk in speaking ; but if 
he held his tongue, he believed his damnation certain. — Michelet, p. 7. 

m Life of Luther, ii. p. 7 (Kelly's translation). 



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7 



ashes, and to receive my request with pastoral kindness. 
There are circulated throughout the country in the name of 
your grace and lordship the papal indulgences for the erec- 
tion of the cathedral of S. Peters at Rome. I do not so 
much object to the declamations of the preachers of the 
indulgences, as to the erroneous idea entertained of it 
by the poor, simple, and unlearned, who are everywhere 
openly avowing their fond imaginations on the subject. 

This pains me and turns me sick They fancy that 

their souls will be delivered from purgatory as soon as the 
money clinks in the (papal) coffer. They believe the indul- 
gence to be powerful enough to save the greatest sinner, 
even one (such is their blasphemy) who might have violated 
the holy mother of our Saviour ! . . . . Great God ! these 
poor souls, then, are to be taught, under your authority, to 
death and not to life. You will incur a fearful and heavily 
increasing responsibility Be pleased, noble and vene- 
rable father, to read and take into consideration the follow- 
ing propositions, in which is shown the vanity of the indul- 
gences which the preachers give out as a certainty." 

This letter contained a list of propositions winch Luther 
intended to maintain against the doctrine of indulgences, 
although he, at the same time, professes that he had scarcely 
hitherto comprehended their meaning. He warned the 
elector, in earnest terms, against the danger of a system in 
which alms, unaccompanied by repentance, were made a 
means of receiving absolution, and pardon for sins. 

Without, however, waiting for an answer, or, perhaps, 
mistrusting the probability of his ever receiving one calcu- 
lated to satisfy his doubts, Luther, on the last day of October, 
the date which his letter bears, published the propo- 
sitions 11 aforesaid on the door of the splendid church lately 
dedicated to All Saints by Frederick, the elector of Saxony. 
The following will serve as specimens : — 

" The pope neither can nor will remit any penalty except 
such as he has himself imposed, or in conformity with the 
canons. 

n Some calculations make them ninety-five, others ninety-seven in 
number. See Courayer, p. 16, n. 29. I have borrowed those in the 
;text from Michelet, I. c. 



s 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" The penitential canons are for the living ; they cannot 
impose any punishment on the soul of the dead. 

u The changing of canonical punishment into the pains of 
purgatory is a sowing of tares ; the bishops were clearly 
asleep when they suffered such seed to be sown. 

" That power of extending relief to souls in purgatory, 
which the po])e can exercise throughout Christendom, be- 
longs to each bishop in his own diocese, each curate in his 
own parish Who knows whether all the souls in pur- 
gatory would wish to be released ? is said to have been 
asked by S. Severinus. 

u Christians should be taught, that unless they have a 
superfluity, they ought to keep their money for their family, 
and lay out nothing upon their sins. 

" Christians should be taught, that when the pope grants 
indulgences, he does not so much seek for their money, as 
for their eanaest prayers in his behalf. 

" Christians should be taught, that if the pope were made 
acquainted with the extortions of the indulgence preachers, 
he would prefer seeing the basilica of St. Peters reduced to 
ashes, to building it with the flesh, fleece, and bones of his 
sheep. 

" The pope's wish must be, if indulgences, a small matter, 
are proclaimed with the ringing of a bell, with ceremonial 
and solemnity, that the Gospel, so great a matter, should be 
preached with a hundred bells, a hundred ceremonies, a 
hundred solemnities. 

" The true treasure of the Church is the sacred and holy 
Gospel of the glory and grace of God. 

" One has cause to hate this treasure of the Gospel, by 
which the first become last. 

" One has cause to love the treasure of indulgences, by 
which the last become first. 

" The treasures of the Gospel are the nets, by which rich 
men were once fished for. 

" The treasures of indulgences are the nets, with which 
men's riches are now fished for. 

" To say that the cross, placed in the pope's arms, is equal 
to the cross of Christ, is blasphemy. 

" Why does not the pope, out of his most holy charity, 
empty purgatory, in which are so many souls in punishment % 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



9 



This would be a worthier exercise of his power than freeing 
souls for money (this money brings misfortune), and to put 
to what use ? to build a church. 

" What means this strange compassion of God and the 
pope's, who, for money's sake, change the soul of an impious 
person, of one of God's enemies, into a pious soul, and ac- 
ceptable to the Lord 1 

" Cannot the pope, whose treasures at the present moment 
exceed the most enormous treasures, build a single church, the- 
basilica of St. Peter's, with his own money, rather than with 
that of the poor faithful ? 

" What does the pope remit, what does he give those who 
by perfect repentance are entitled to plenary forgiveness ? 

" Far from us all those prophets who say to the people of 
Christ, ' Peace, peace] and do not give peace. 

" Far, very far, all those prophets, who say to Christ's 
people, 6 The cross, the cross ! ' and do not show the cross. 

" Christians should be exhort e,d to follow Christ, their 
head, through pains, punishments, and hell itself, so that 
they may be certified that it is through tribulations heaven 
is entered, and not through security and peace," &c. 

With these propositions many were intermixed which 
tended to throw discredit upon the doctrines of purgatory 
and penance, especially as considered in connection there- 
with, and the whole were seasoned with an irony, the force of 
which Luther well knew, and was ever successful in apply- 
ing. The following theses were published almost at the same- 
time : — 

u Man by his nature cannot will that God be God. He 
would rather himself to be God, and that God was not 
God. 

" It is false that appetite is free to choose both ways ; it is> 
not free, but captive. 

" There exists in nature, before God, nothing save con- 
cupiscence. 

" It is false that this concupiscence can be regulated by 
the virtue of hope. For hope is opposed to charity, which 
seeks and desires only what is of God. Hope does not 
come of our merits, but of our passions, which efface our 
merits. 

" The best and only infallible preparation and disposition 



10 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



for the reception of grace, are the choice and predestination 
of God from all eternity. 

"As regards man, nothing precedes grace, except indis- 
position to grace, or rather rebellion. 

" It is false that invincible ignorance is any extenuation. 
Ignorance of God, of oneself, of good works, is the invincible 
nature of man," &c. 

On the same evening, Luther propounded these propo- 
sitions in the church of All Saints, and preached in their 
defence. He at the same time caused them to be printed 
and circulated throughout Germany. At first he proceeded 
with much calmness, and avowed himself on all occasions 
willing to submit himself to the judgment of the Catholic 
Church. Indeed, he seems to have been alarmed at his own 
success, and at the extent to which the circulation of his 
propositions had been carried. 

The reply of Tetzel to the propositions of Luther, pub- 
lished at Frankfort, was publicly burnt by the students in 
the market-place of Wittemberg, but, it would seem, without 
the cognizance of Luther or of the local authorities. 

A more formidable adversary soon sprang up, in the 
person of Eck, vice-chancellor of Ingoldstadt, who had 
hitherto been a stanch friend of Luther, and who possessed 
many similar features of character. But the antagonists 
were well matched, and of all the opponents his opinions 
drew upon him, Luther respected and dreaded none so much 
as Eck. 

CHAPTER IY. 

Conduct of Pope Leo X. Luther assails the Papal Supremacy. 

It is said that, at first, Leo the Tenth, like many of his 
court, paid little attention to the attacks made by Luther, 
looking upon the whole controversy as a mere matter of 
professional jealousy between the Austin and Dominican 
Mars. Luther himself appeared anxious to conciliate the 
good-will of the pontiff, expressing himself, in a letter 
addressed to him, as willing to abide unreservedly by his 
authority and decision. In concluding this epistle, he says : 
u I acknowledge your voice to be the voice of Christ, who 



See Michelet, p. 8. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



11 



reigns and speaks in you. If I have deserved death, I shall 
not flinch from dying ; for the earth and 1?he fulness thereof 
are the Lord's, whose name be blessed for ever and ever ! 
May he vouchsafe your eternal salvation ! Amen ! " — (Day 
of the blessed Trinity, 1518.) In a letter addressed to Stau- 
pitz, the vicar-general, he asserts that he had derived the 
doctrine he now taught from his own instruction, he having 
said, " the only true repentance is that which has its begin- 
ning in the love of justice and of God. This saying of 
yours," continues Luther, " sunk into my heart like the sharp 
arrow of the hunter. I felt emboldened to wrestle with the 
Scriptures, which teach repentance ; wrestling full of charms, 
during which all the words of Scripture were showered from 
all parts, and flew around, hailing and applauding this say- 
ing. Aforetime there was no harder word for me in Scrip- 
ture, than that one word ' repentance ; ' albeit, I endeavoured 
to dissemble before God, and express my love of obedience. 
No w no word sounds so sweetly, in my ear. So sweet and 
lovely are God's commands, when we learn to read them 
not in books only, but in the very sounds of the sweet 
Saviour." 

But although ^s^essing personal respect for the pope, pref 
although avoiding open rupture with the court of Borne, 
Luther still persisted in carrying on the war against the 
abuses he had denounced, and began to assume a higher tone 
in his opposition. The scholastic authors, who had combated 
his attacks, and more especially Silvestro del Prierio,P despair- 
ing of drawing arguments from Scripture, or even from the 
authority of early tradition, had confined themselves to the 
very simple reasoning, that as the pope was absolute, what- 
soever he willed was right, and that as the pope had decreed 
indulgences, they must be right. Luther, whose propositions 
had already gone far to decry not only the abuse but the 
validity of indulgences under all circumstances, now began 
first to sneer at and subsequently to impugn the papal 
power. 

p Master of the sacred palace. Luther appears to have generally 
conceived a bad opinion of the Italians, especially of Silvestro and 
Caietano. See Michelet, Addit. et Illustr. p. 85. 



12 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER V. 

Luther cited to appear. 

In the Diet of Augsburg, the emperor Maximilian drew 
the attention of the assembly to the disturbances likely to 
arise from the new doctrines set forth by Luther, and sent 
a warning letter to Leo, who had hitherto evinced little 
interest in the matter. He at the same time pledged him- 
self that, whatsoever might be the decision of the pontiff, he 
would take care that it should be observed throughout the 
empire, notwithstanding the covert support which Luther 
was receiving from certain persons high in authority. <i 

In August, 1518, a monitory was issued by the Auditor 
della Camera, commanding Luther to appear at Home in 
person within the period of sixty days. This caused Luther 
much uneasiness, although, from various acts of past friend- 
ship, and from an evident leaning towards the cause he 
advocated, the elector appeared likely to prove a firm and 
unflinching friend. Much tergiversation ensued ; and it 
cannot be denied that Luther's fears were greater than 
became the almost rash confidence with which he had first 
propounded his doctrines. In particular, his ingenious de- 
ception in contriving to prevent his obtaining the passport r 
necessary to insure his safe-conduct on the journey, ill agrees 
with his reckless enthusiasm on other occasions, and is sadly 
beneath the character of an evangelical reformer. 

q " But, as the event showed, the emperor had overrated his power ; 
for the elector of Saxony was nothing daunted by the pontifical judg- 
ment and command which soon followed, — egged on, perhaps, to this 
opposition by the neglect of Leo and of the emperor to secure before- 
hand his concurrence." — Waterworth, p. xi. sq. 

r On the 21st of August, 1518, he writes to Spalatin as follows : — "I 
do not yet see how I can avoid the censures with which I am threatened, 
except the prioce comes to my aid. And yet I would rather endure all 
the censures in the world than see his highness blamed on my account. 
The next step I can take, in the opinion of our wise and learned friends, 
is to ask the prince for a safe-conduct (salvum, ut vocant, conductum per 
mum dominium). I am sure he would refuse me ; so that they say I 
shall have a good excuse for not appearing at Rome. Have the kind- 
ness then to procure me from our most illustrious prince a rescript to 
the effect that he refuses to grant me a safe-conduct, and leaves me, if 
I venture on the journey, to my own risk and peril. You will be doing 
me a most important service ; but it must be done quickly, for time 
presses and the day appointed is at hand." — Michelet, p. 9. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



13 



However, his safety had been provided for by Frederick, 
who requested Cardinal Caietan, who was then legate from 
the Roman court, to interpose his influence with Leo to 
prevent the cause being tried out of Germany. To this 
request Leo willingly acceded, being desirous to gratify a 
prince whom it was so important to conciliate. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Luther appears at Augsburg. 

Luther, whose opinions had been undergoing still more 
violent changes upon various points of doctrine, such as his 
rejection of the power of the Church as an infallible inter- 
preter of the Scriptures, and his assertion of faith alone as a 
means of salvation, proceeded to Augsburg under a safe-con- 
duct granted by the emperor, and was received by Caietan, 
who, as the most eminent theologian of the day, had 
been deputed by Leo to bring him to a recantation of his 
errors. 

It is against my plan to enter at present into details 
respecting this celebrated conference ; but it will be suffi- 
cient to state that Luther's subsequent conduct, as well as 
his pertinacious refusal to confess himself in the wrong, or 
even to render an unconscientious and merely verbal acqui- 
escence to the scholastic arguments, prove that his mind was 
already alienated from Rome in a manner that seemed to 
preclude all chance of his return to her dictates. In this 
determination he seems to have been secretly confirmed by 
the conversation of his friend Staapitz, s who was present at 
a large portion of the conference. At length Caietan, who 
seems to have evinced a friendly disposition towards Luther, 
although, as was natural under the circumstances, the cardinal 
was unwilling to dispute with him on the matters respecting 
which they had met, declined having any further interview, 
except to receive Luther's submission to the will of the 
Church, and a recantation of the doctrines he had advanced. 

Before leaving Augsburg, however, Luther addressed a 
letter to Caietan, bearing date October 17th, 1518, in which, 
while declaring his inability to recant opinions which he could 
not think erroneous, he confessed to having displayed too 

* Pallav. i. 9 ; \Taterworth, p. xviii. 



14 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



much bitterness, ascribed his inability of proper thought to 
the extortionate cupidity of the questors of alms and his 
adversaries, and expressed his willingness to apologize to the 
pontiff, and not say a word hereafter on the subject of in- 
dulgences, provided his adversaries would consent to bind 
themselves to the same conditions^ To this letter the cardinal 
returned no answer, 11 and Luther quitted Augsburg, perhaps 
alarmed at the suggestions of his friend Staupitz. The con- 
duct of Caietan was greatly condemned by his own party at 
home, who had however committed an obvious mistake in 
sending a Dominican to convict Luther, seeing that tho 
Dominican friars had at least been the occasion of the first 
attacks upon the Church of Kome. v 

CHAPTER VII. 

Leo X. issues a Bull respecting Indulgences. 

Finding, from the account given of the Augsburg con- 
ference, that Luther was utterly irreclaimable, especially as 
he now professed to appeal from the pontiff to a general 
council of the Church, Leo addressed a bull on the subject of 
indulgences to his legate, then at Ling, a town of Upper 
Austria. This document was published by Caietan on De- 
cember 13th, and numerous copies were circulated through- 
out Germany. In this he claimed for himself the power of 
remitting sins whether to the living or the dead, as being the 
lawful successor of St. Peter, and the vicar of Christ. The 
effect of this Bull, however, was rendered almost unavailing 
by the death of Maximilian about a month after its publica- 
tion, January 12th, 1519. The elector of Saxony was by 
his own will placed at the head of the Germanic confederacy, 
and while the Catholic party were thus deprived of a valuable 
supporter, fresh strength was given to one who had an evident 
tendency to favour the new doctrines, which were so rapidly 
developing.^ 

* Sarpi, p. 21, ed. Courayer. See Pallav. i. 9 and 10. 
u Sleidan apud Courayer, p. 22, n. 42. 
v Mosheim, C^pt. xvi. ch. ii. 7, note. 

w This is briefly but emphatically stated by Pallavicino, i. 12, sub fin* 



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15 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Miltitz is sent to the Elector. 

Luther had now just reasons to consider his position one 
of doubt and insecurity, when Leo, perceiving the mischief 
likely to accrue from the conduct of Caietan, and most 
anxious to conciliate a prince whose importance was greater 
than ever, made choice of a new legate, Charles von Miltitz, 
a Saxon knight of his own court, u whose lay character 
exposed him less to the prejudices that arise from a spirit of 
party, than if he had been clothed with the splendid purple, 
or the monastic frock. He was also a person of great pru- 
dence, penetration, and dexterity, and every way qualified for 
the execution of such a nice and critical commission as this 
was." x He therefore was dispatched into Saxony by Leo to 
offer to Frederick the golden rose, which it is customary for 
the pontiff to bless on the fourth, Sunday of Lent, and to 
present to some one of the Christian princes who have de- 
served well of religionJ 

But whether the reiterated boldness of Luther, who had 
now begun to deny even the right of the pontiff to implicit 
obedience, had gained a stronger influence over the mind of 
the elector than it had yet possessed, or whether the elector 
was himself too clear-sighted not to perceive the real motive 
of the present, and of the affectionate letter with which it 
was accompanied, Leo found his condescension totally un- 
availing. The elector declined to receive the present publicly 
from the nuncio, but returned a polite, but wary answer, 
professing himself a most obedient son of holy mother 
Church, and the profoundest respect for the pontifical dig- 
nity, but in the case of Luther, he required both time to 
judge, and the decision of impartial judges. 

The death of Maximilian naturally gave fresh confidence 
to Luther, who addressed a letter to the pope, in which he 
evidently assumes the tone of a conqueror. As a curious 

x Mosheim, Cbnt. xvi. ch. ii. 8. He had been intrusted with the \^ 
protection of Luther's interests at the Roman court by the university of 
Wittemberg. — Waterworth, ch. v. p. xxiii. 

y Pallav. i. 13 : " Sogliono i Pontefici nella quarta Domenica di 
Quaresima benedire solennemente una Rosa d' oro, e mandar la in dono 
frk qualche tempo ad un Principe benemerito della religione" (p. 122). 



16 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



specimen of the respectful haughtiness which Luther so well 
knew how to employ against his enemies, I will insert this 
epistle, dated March 3rd. 1519. 

" Most holy father, I cannot support the weight of your 
Wrath, yet know not how to escape troni the burthen. Thanks 
to the opposition and attacks of my enemies, my words have 
spread more widely than I could hare hoped for, and they 
have sunk too deeply into men's hearts for me to retract 
them. In these our days. Germany flourishes in erudition, 
reason, and genius : and if I would honour Rome before her, 
I must beware of retractation, which would be only sullying 
the Eoman Church still further, and exposing it to public 
accusation and contempt. It is they, who, abusing the name 
of your holiness, have made their absurd preacliing serve their 
infamous avarice, and have sullied holy things with the 
abomination and reproach of Egypt, that have done the 
Boman Church injury and dishonour with Germany. And 
as if this was not mischief enough, it is against me, who have 
striven to oppose those monsters, that their accusations are 
directed. But I call God and men to witness, most holy 
father, that I have never wished, and do not now desire to 
touch the Homan Church or your sacred authority ; and 
acknowledge most explicitly, that this church rules over all, 
and that nothing, heavenly or earthly, is superior to it, save 
Jesus Christ, our Lord." 7 - 

But Miltitz, if not a more sincere, was at least a more polite 
champion of Catholicism than Caietan. and perceiving that 
ojmosition was useless, he had recourse to praise and flattery, 
seeking, by condemning the practices of Luther's adversary 
Tetzel, and bv eulooizino; the reformer s learnino* and influ- 
ence, to appeal to the feelings of a character in whom the most 
partial observer must trace not a little admixture of vanity — a 
fault too common with enthusiasts in any cause, nay, a fault 
often mistaken for enthusiasm itself. In fact, so persuasive 
were his manners, that they proved to some extent success- 
ful where argument and intimidation had failed, and Luther 
promised to maintain silence on the subject of indulgence, 
provided his opponents would submit to a like restraint. He 
furthermore promised to publish a written recommendation 



z Michelet. p. 11. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



17 



of adherence to the Church of Rome, and to write a con- 
ciliatory letter to the Roman pontiff. 3 

All now seemed satisfactory, and Miltitz invited Luther to 
sup with him. But although both seemed to have laid aside 
the stiffness likely to result from the strange juxtapositiou 
in which they found themselves, Luther was too acute not to 
perceive that the affability of his entertainer must spring 
from policy rather than real regard. 

When the moment for separating was come, Miltitz, who 
had all along sustained the part of an accomplished actor, 
tenderly embraced Luther, and kissed him. " A Judas kiss," 
thought Luther, looking grave and dissatisfied with this 
ebullition of Italian affection. Yet to the opposite party, it 
seemed as if their end was accomplished, and that Luther 
would return to the fold from which he had strayed. " Eome's 
error lay in this, that she regarded but as a monk's quarrel, 
what was awakening in the Church. The kiss of a pope's 
chamberlain would not stop the renovation of Christianity." b 

CHAPTER IX. 

Disgrace and Death of Tetzel, 

As a brief, but necessary episode, we may here notice the 
disgrace and death of Tetzel. The Roman court, like many 
others, was ready to discard the man, whom she had used as 
a tool for her own misdeeds Miltitz had already cited Tetzel 
to appear and defend himself before him at Altenburg ; but 
the crafty Dominican, dreading the reception he might meet 
from those whom he had misled and defrauded, kept himself 
concealed in the college of St. Paul, at Leipsic. The letter 
of Miltitz filled him with terror, and in a letter to the nuncio, 
he declares that " he should not regret the trouble of the 
journey, if he could quit Leipsic without danger to his life ;" 
but, " the Augustinian Martin Luther," he continues, " has so 
wrought on and excited powerful men against me, that I am 
nowhere in safety." c 

a The particulars of this conference are given at some length, and 
from Luther's own account, in D'Aubigne's History of the Ref. pt. ii. 
b. v. ch. 1. 

b D'Aubigne', I. c. p. 136 (Kelly's translation). 
c Loscher apud D'Aubigne', p. 135. 

C 



18 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Flushed with delight at his supposed successful negotiation 
with Luther, Miltitz went from Altenburg to Leipsic, and 
instantly cited the recreant Tetzel. In language replete with 
the bitterest reproaches, he denounced him as the author of 
the whole mischief, and threatened him with the pope's in- 
dignation ; nor was this all — the agent of Fugger's d house 
was confronted with him, and, on comparing accounts, it was 
proved that he had unnecessarily expended, or secretly 
appropriated to himself, vast sums of money. Utterly over- 
whelmed by the force of convincing evidence, and despairing 
of ever retrieving either his credit or his influence, he fell 
into a state of pitiable melancholy ; his health gave way ; and, 
harassed by the stings of conscience, deserted or despised by 
his best friends, and in constant dread of the pope's indigna- 
tion, he closed a shameful existence by a miserable death. 
It was to Luther's credit that he sincerely compassionated the 
unhappy state of his old enemy, and that when Rome was 
heaping her wrath upon a sinner of her own making, Luther 
could address to him a letter teeming with kindly con- 
solation. 6 

CHAPTER X. 

Tlie Dispute between Luther and Ech. 

Although the conduct of Luther seems to have been such 
as was pre-eminently calculated to reassure the hopes of the 
Romish party — especially as he still professed an implicit 
faith in the doctrines of that church, and ceased even to 
declaim against the abuses connected with the doctrine of 
indulgences — still the principles of religious freedom had 
been too much aroused to lie dormant, and the Romish court 
had neither policy to understand, nor power to take ad- 
vantage of, the ground already gained by their skilful emis- 
sary. Had all the adversaries of Luther possessed equal 
skill with the wary and accomplished Miltitz, — had a like 

d The banker to whom the cash transactions of the indulgence mat- 
ters had been intrusted. — D'Aubigne, p. 76. 

e My leading authorities are Pallavicino, i. 14 ; D'Aubigne, p. 136 ; 
and Maclaine apud Mosheim, Cent. xv. ch. ii. § 9. The latter writer 
states that "the infamy of Tetzel was perpetuated by a picture placed in 
the church of Pinna, in which he is represented sitting on an ass and. 
selling indulgences." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



19 



display of worldly tact and clever dissimulation been brought 
to bear upon the simple and retired monk (whose innocence 
of the polite world is only surpassed by his ready compre- 
hension of the intellectual), there is every reason to believe 
that the work of the Reformation must have been delayed. 
But the same haughty and intolerant spirit, which has too 
often caused schisms among the members of the Reformed 
Church, — the same obstinacy in persisting in condemnation, 
where conviction was the only safe road, drove Luther to 
probe more deeply the wounds he had already inflicted, to 
make one discovery the basis of another, and to sap the 
very foundations of that church to which he still professed 
allegiance. That his conduct displayed weakness and incon- 
sistency on many occasions, cannot, even upon the most 
favourable view of his own writings, be denied ; but that 
the unflinching perseverance of the advocates of the opposing 
party in maintaining views which they had practically shown 
to be wrong, drove him to a definite secession from the 
Romish Church, is equally certain. 

Miltitz had advised Luther to refer the affair at issue to 
some unbiassed judge, and the Archbishop Hector, of Treves, 
was fixed upon as a fitting person. When, however, the 
time arrived, Luther alleged various — and some of them not 
very satisfactory — reasons for declining the journey. The 
most important and true reason he alleged was his approach- 
ing disputation with Eck, which was shortly to take place 
. at Leipsic, the universities of Erfurt and Paris being chosen 
arbitrators. 

The object of this dispute was to settle some dispute 
between Eck and Carlstadt/ an intimate friend of Luther's, 

f The following description of the personal appearance of the com- 
batants, taken from the pen of an eye-witness, is interesting : — "Martin 
Luther is of middle height, and so thin, by reason of his intense study, 
that one may almost count his bones. He is in the prime of his age, 
and has a clear and sonorous voice. His learning and his knowledge of 
the Scriptures are incomparable ; he has the whole within his grasp. 
Besides this, he has a great stock of arguments and ideas. Perhaps we 
might wish he had a little more judgment to guide him in putting every- 
thing in its fit place. In conversation he is polite and affable, there is 
nothing proud or stoical about him ; he has the art of accommodating 
himself to every one ; his manner of speaking is agreeable and full of 
sprightliness. He displays firmness, and always wears a contented air, 
whatever be the threats of his adversaries, so that one is forced to believe 

c2 



20 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



on the subject of free-will. In the ensuing discussion, which 
was maintained by Luther, he openly denied the divine 
right of the pope's supremacy, and questioned the scriptural 
or patristic authority of purgatory.? Eck seems to have had 

it is not without God's aid he does such great things. He is reproached, 
however, with being more caustic in his manner of reproving others 
than becomes a theologian, especially when he proclaims things that are 
new in religion. 

" Carlstadt is smaller, he has a swarthy and sun-burnt face, his voice 
is disagreeable, his memory is more sure than Luther's, and he is more 
inclined to anger than he ; nevertheless he exhibits, though in an inferior 
degree, the qualities that distinguish his friend. 

" Eck is of lofty stature, with broad shoulders ; his voice is strong 
and truly German. He has good lungs, so that he could make himself 
very well heard in a theatre, or would even be an excellent public crier. 
His accent is rather coarse than otherwise ; he has not the grace so much 
praised by Quinctilian and Cicero. His mouth, his eyes, and his whole 
countenance give you rather the idea of a butcher than a theologian. 
He has an excellent memory, and if he had as much understanding he 
would really be a perfect man ; but he is slow of apprehension, and he 
wants that judgment without which all other gifts are useless. Thus in 
disputing, he heaps together, without choice and without discrimination, 
a mass cf passages from the Bible, quotations from the fathers, and 
proofs of all sorts. Furthermore, he possesses an inconceivable degree 
of impudence. If he finds himself embarrassed, he quits the subject 
in hand, and dashes into another ; sometimes, even, he appropriates his 
antagonist's opinion, expressing it in other terms, and attributes to his 
adversary with extraordinary address the absurdity he had himself been 
defending." — Mosellanus apud D'Aubigne, p. 143. The particulars of the 
conferences are well given, ibid. p. 146, sqq. 

s In this disputation, Luther maintained that the pope was not, by 
divine right, universal bishop of the whole Church, from passages of 
Scripture, and even from the decrees of the Council of Nice. And 
when from the subject of the pope they came to that of indulgences, 
Luther denied their absolute necessity ; and so of purgatory, he acknow- 
ledged, indeed that he believed in it, but said he could find no authority 
for it in the Scriptures or in the fathers. In fact, it was in the year 
1530 that Luther first pronounced purgatory to be a fable. The dis- 
pute with Carlstadt related to freedom in the theological sense, or to 
the natural power of man to do the will of God. Carlstadt main- 
tained, that since the fall the natural freedom of man is not strong 
enough to move him to that which is morally good. Eck, on the con- 
trary, asserted that the free will of man produces good works, and not 
merely the grace of God ; or that our natural freedom co-operates with 
divine grace in the production of good works, and that it depends on 
man's free power whether he will give place to the operations of grace 
or will resist them. It thus appears that Carlstadt defended the doc- 
trine of Augustine in regard to divine grace. — Schlegel on Mosheim, 
v. iii. p. 104, ed. Soames. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



21 



the worst of the dispute, as he conceived a bitter hatred ever 
after against Luther, for whom he had before entertained 
considerable friendship. From this dispute with Eck, whose 
intemperate and rancorous language had done the same mis- 
chief as the similar behaviour of Caietan, Luther saw little 
reason to hope for fair treatment at the hands of the Romish 
court ; and although — chiefly at the persuasion of Miltitz — 
he sought to convince the pontiff that his conduct had been 
forced upon him by the violent behaviour of his adversaries, 
still he sought for peace with Rome only on terms that he 
well knew could not be granted, namely, that he should not be 
compelled to recant, or to submit to restriction in his private 
interpretation of holy Scripture. h 

CHAPTER XL 

Zwingle stirs up Reform in 'Switzerland.. 

But the work of reform was destined to find another 
champion in the erudite and penetrating Zwingle, a priest 
and canon of Zurich. He had been led, at an earlier period 
than Luther, to perceive the errors and corruptions of the 
Church of Rome, and although both arrived at the same 
conclusions, it was without concert, and without mutual aid 
one from the other. Eventually, moreover, Zwingle carried 
the principles of the Reformation farther than ever Luther 
had done. But he moved in a narrower sphere, and acted 
with more steadfast temperance of judgment, perhaps with 
more consistency, than his more celebrated contemporary. 
In polite and biblical learning he was fully Luther's equal, 
and in his stern opposition to the sale of indulgences by one 
Bernarclin Sampson, of Milan, his name must be ever asso- 
ciated with his. But his glorious and energetic career was 
cut short at an early period. While bearing the standard 
amidst his fellow-citizens, as they went to repel a Roman 
Catholic force from the popish cantons, Zwingle was slain 
almost at the commencement of the battle, and his body cut 
to pieces and burnt. 1 

h See Waterworth, p. xxvii. 

1 I am chiefly indebted to Murdock's notes on Mosheim, v. iii. p. 107, 
sq. ed. Soames. 



22 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XII. 

Leo X. fulminates a Bull against Luther. 

Eck. backed by the influence of Caietan and Prierio, 
it6w sought to inflame the mind of the pontiff against 
Luther, clearly perceiving that all hopes of reconciliation or 
accommodation Were at an end. Leo. who had already let 
matters go too far, now resolved to fulminate a bull con- 
demning the errors of Luther. Mosheim j doubts the pru- 
dence of this measure : but it is difficult to conceive what 
other could have been adopted, considering the situation of 
the pope. The real imprudence k was that Eck, so obnoxious 
to Luther, should have been intrusted with so large a share 
hi the preparation of the document : and its tendency to 
widen the breach was quickly discovered. 

Forty-one of Luther's propositions were condemned, his 
writings adjudged to the flames, and he himself was com- 
manded to confess his errors within the space of sixty days, 
and implore the clemency of the pope, under pain of being 
excommunicated, and cast off from all connection with the 
Church. 1 The bull was accompanied with various threats 
against any who should side with Luther or his opinions. 

But Eck, exulting with paternal pride in the issuing of 
this bull, and, like too many of his predecessors, giving undue 
range to the vanity consequent on a supposed triumph, car- 
lied it into Germany, and, acting as vicar-apostolic to his 
own princes, caused it to be published throughout their 
dominions, and in some cases carried out. Luther naturally 
pointed to this fact as an evidence that personal spite and 
enmity had been at work against him in the concoction of 
the bull J and that " this condemnation was for him like the 
poniard of a deadly foe. and not like the axe of a legal exe- 
cutioner.'* 1 ^ 1 Moreover, the bishops, accustomed to receive the 

j Murdoch, notes on Mosheim, p. 103, ibid. 
k As even Dr. Waterworth confesses, p. xxviii. 

1 See an extract from the bull in D'Aubigne, p. 164 ; Sarpi, i. p. 11 
(of the Latin ed. ) ; and Pallav. i. 20, who in the following chapter can- 
vasses some of Sarpi 's objections. Various authors regard this bull as 
the origin and foundation of the Council of Trent. 

m i; Non come dalla scure di legittimo giustiziere, ma dalla spada di 
appassionato nemico.'' — Pallav. i. 20. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



23 



papal bulls directly, were dissatisfied at this one being pub- 
lished in their dioceses by a man of no eminent rank in the 
Church. 11 

Among other places where the unpopularity of Eck mani- 
fested itself, Leipsic was the scene of uproar and confusion. 
The students stuck up placards, and sang songs about the 
streets, in which the new nuncio was unsparingly attacked 
and lampooned. Eck. who had sought security in the college 
of St. Paul, which had formerly sheltered Tetzel. lost courage ; 
and the arrival of a party of students from Witteinberg, 
inveigliing in the strongest terms against the bull and the 
papal envoy, filled him with dismay. His rival Miltitz was 
delighted with the failure and unpopularity of Eck, but did 
not long enjoy his triumph. He had himself begun to decline 
in favour with the pontiff, and passing the Rhine at Maintz 
in a state of inebriety, he fell into the river and perished. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Lvthtr bums the Papal Ball. 
Eck, not daring to visit Witteinberg. sent the bull to the 
rector, together with a special breve, exhorting the university, 
under the severest penalties, to see to the strict execution of 
the bull in all its parts. They appealed to the elector, then 
absent ; but his answer displayed an evident wavering be- 
tween his attachment to the old religion and his partiality for 
the doctrines inculcated by Luther. The reformer, besides 
appealing from the pope to a general council of the Church, 
strove to gain over the newly-elected emperor, Charles V., 
to his side. Although, in arguments, to which Pallavicino 
has done full justice, he set forth the tyranny of the Roman 
pontiffs over German princes,P and the glory which would 

n D'Aubigne, p. 171, where he relates many instances of Esk's vain 
and insolent conduct. 
° i. 22. 

p Speaking of the influence exercised by the popes upon temporal 
princes, I must not omit, in connection with the Council of Trent, to 
mention a curious tract bearing the following title : — "Revelatio Con- 
siliorum quae initio Synodi Tridentinae, inter Pontificem, Caesareru, 
caaterosque reges, principes, et status Pontificios, contra veros et 
liberos orbis Christiani reges, principes, et ordines sunt inita. Antea 
quidern Gallice edita, sed delude suppressa : nunc vero nativa facta, 
et iterum magno bonorum omnium usu publicata, atque cowmen- 



24 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



accrue from setting up an independent authority both in 
spiritual and temporal matters, he failed to arouse the vanity 
or the enthusiasm of the emperor, who, on returning from 
England, ordered the works of Luther to be burnt in Bra- 
bant, Louvain, and other places under his dominion. 

Stung to despair by this insult, and informed by Erasmus 1 
that the feelings of the emperor and his court were on the 
side of Rome, Luther determined to meet his opponents 
with their own weapons, and after their own fashion. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 10th of December, 1520, a placard was 
posted on the walls of the university of Wittemberg, inviting 
the professors and students to be present at nine o'clock in 
the morning, at the eastern gate, near the holy cross. A 
large concourse assembled, a pile of faggots was kindled, and 
into the flames Luther cast copies of the Canon Law, the 
Decretals, the Clementines, the Extravagantes of the Popes, 
and the writings of Eck and Ernser. Then, casting the bull 
of Leo into the same fire, he exclaimed, " As ye have troubled 
the holy one of the Lord, may everlasting fire trouble you." r 

tariis ittustrata. Anno m.dc.xx." Among the many arguments brought 
forward to support this notion (condemned in our XXXth article), I 
translate the following as a specimen : — " But the greatest, most 
general, and firmest argument is taken from the oaths of the Profession 
of Faith, to extirpate heretics, which, according to the Council of Trent, 
are, at the solemnities of inauguration or consecration, taken by all 
kings and princes to the pontiff and the Roman see. Nay, except they 
wish to be stripped of all dignity and majesty, they are bound to keep 
[their oaths,] and to solemnly renew, and confirm them by an acknow- 
ledgment under oath and obeisance to each new pontiff, in such wise 
that, even after that oath has been made, they are not accounted in the 
number of emperors, kings, and princes, before that they have afforded 
all manner of obedience to the Roman see, and have been confirmed 
solemnly by the said pontiffs. And this argument is so firm and im- 
movable, that the Roman Catholics themselves hold it as a perpetual, 
immovable, and public law ; so that all agreements, promises, acts and 
deeds private, public, or sworn, that are contrary thereunto, are ipso 
jure, and without any other declaration, of no avail." — P. 11. I shall 
again have to revert to this pamphlet, when speaking of the bull of 
Pope Pius IY. 

i Pallav. i. 22, p. 147. 

r Pallavicino says, " Nell' alto dell' incendio usb quasi nuovo profeta 
(I know not whether this is meant for a sneer or a candid admission) 
queste parole : — Perche hai conturhato il Santo del Signore, conturbi te il 
fuoco etemo" The quotations from Luther in Michelet, p. 13, are im- 
portant. Sarpi is brief and jejune. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



23 



This example was imitated in two or three cities of Germany, 
and even in Leipsic, under the very eyes of Duke George. 

D'Aubigne remarks : " If Luther had begun the Reforma- 
tion in this way, such a measure might, no doubt, have pro- 
duced disastrous effects : fanaticism might have laid hold on 
it, and cast the Church upon a course of disorder and violence. 
But it was by gravely expounding the lessons of Scripture 
that the reformer had preluded his work. The foundations 
had been laid with sage discretion \ and now an outbreak 
like this might not only be made without inconvenience, 
but might even hasten the moment of the emancipation of 
Christianity." 5 

But Luther displayed some inconsistency in his subsequent- 
expressions of regret for this outbreak, professing that it was 
not done out of hostility to the pontiff, who, he felt assured, 
neither approved of the errors contained in the code of the 
Canon Law, nor of the burning of his own works. But the 
pope could no longer be blind to the real state of matters. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Aleander is despatched as Nuncio. Conduct of Erasmus. 

Among the many strangers who had resorted to Cologne 
to be present at the recent coronation of Charles Y., were 
the pope's two nuncios, Marino Caraccioli and Jerome Alean- 
der. 1 The latter of these, a man of great skill and accomplish- 

s P. 175. 

1 "This man, who afterwards wore the cardinal's purple, was, as it 
seems, sprung from a somewhat ancient family, and was not of Jewish- 
extraction, as has been said. The wicked Borgia had called him to 
Rome to make him secretary to his son, to that Caesar, before whose 
daggers all Rome had trembled. 'Like master, like man/ says an his- 
torian, who thus compares Aleander to Alexander YI. This judgment 
appears to us too severe. After Borgia's death, Aleander devoted him- 
self to study with new ardour. His knowledge of Greek, Hebrew, 
Chaldean, and Arabic, obtained for him the reputation of being the 
most learned man of his age. He gave himself up with his whole soul 
to whatever he took in hand ; the zeal with which he applied to the 
study of languages yielded in no respect to that with which he subse- 
quently persecuted the Reformation. Leo X. attached him to his 
service. The Protestant historians speak of his epicurean habits ; the 
Pomanist historians of the morality of his life. It appears he was fond 
of luxury, show, and amusements. 'Aleander lives at Venice like a 
low Epicurean and in highest dignity,' was said of him by his old friend 



26 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ments, was chosen to undertake the delicate task of bringing 
the reformation movement to a conclusion. Despite the 
opposition of Erasmus, whose views in favour of reformation 
were still tempered by attachment to the religion of his 
early years, Aleander succeeded, as has been seen, u in in- 
fluencing the mind of the emperor sufficiently to procure the 
burning of Luther's works in various states, and to issue an 
edict prohibiting those works throughout the whole of his 
dominions. 

Meanwhile Erasmus, whose hatred to the monks seems to 
have been the leading cause of his tendency towards the 
views entertained by Luther, was working with equal effect, 
but in a contrary direction, upon the mind of the elector. 
All that erudition, wit, and a keen perception of the weak 
or ridiculous points in an adversaiy, united with a flow of 
language and a power of description calculated to place them 
in the strongest light, was possessed to a wonderful extent 
by Erasmus. Disposed rather to expose the fallacies of the 
old system, than to advocate the merits of the new, both his 
writings and his conduct display the character of a destruc- 
tive, rather than a constructive, reformer. Such a man was 
as necessary to the development of a great movement in 
society, as a Luther or a Melancthon. v 

Erasmus. It is admitted on all hands that he was vehement, prompt in 
action, full of ardour, indefatigable, imperious, and devoted to the pope. 
Eck is the impetuous and intrepid chancellor of the schools, Aleander 
the proud ambassador of the haughty court of the pontiffs. He seemed 
made to be nuncio." — D'Aubigne's Reformation, p. 178. See, also, 
Jortin's Life of Erasmus, v. i. p. 243. 
u See the last chapter. 

v The reader may feel surprised that so little notice has been taken 
of Melancthon ; but his biography shall receive as much justice as I have 
power to give to it, in my edition of the Confession of Augsburg. The 
following remarks on Erasmus are pertinent and just : — "Erasmus was 
at the period of the Reformation the head of the intermediate party — at 
least he thought himself so, but incorrectly, for when truth and error 
stand face to face, justice is not midway between them. He was the 
prince of that philosophical and academic party that for centuries had 
pretended to correct Rome, without ever having been able to succeed 
in the attempt ; he was the representative of human wisdom ; but that 
wisdom was too weak to bring down the towering greatness of popery ; 
it needed that divine wisdom which men often call folly, but at the voice 
of which mountains fall. Erasmus would neither cast himself into 
Luther's arms, nor sit down at the pope's feet. He hesitated and often 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



27 



To the elector, accordingly, Erasmus, w when called upon 
for his opinion, addressed a courtly, and at the same time a 
powerful remonstrance. Without losing the opportunity of 
venting sarcasms against the monks, he gave sufficiently 
serious reasons for declining the system of persecution advo- 
cated, or rather, enjoined, by the imperious Aleander. The 
weight attached to his known discrimination, and unparalleled 
learning, was sufficient to satisfy the already favourable dis- 
position of the elector, and to counteract the threats and 
violence of Aleander. In fact, a consideration of the 
immoderate conduct of the latter emissary but furnishes 
additional conviction of the mistaken policy pursued by the 
court of Rome in the choice of her mediators. What a 
Miltitz might have done for their cause, was thoroughly over- 
thrown by the indiscreet presumption of men like Caietan, 
Eck, or Aleander. 

CHAPTER XY. 

Opposition to, and Progress of the Reformation. 

Although the principles of Luther seemed rapidly gain- 
ing ground among the influential classes of Germany, the 
confessional became a dangerous means of operating upon 
the fears of humble persons. The pope's bull was naturally 
regarded by those clergy who adhered to the old cause as a 
standard, by which to regulate their own conduct, and the 
consciences of others. Accordingly, in the confession of 
penitents, the question " whether they have read or possessed 
Luther's writings, and, if so, what views they entertain 
respecting the same,'' became a favourite, but unfair test in 
the hands of the clergy. If this step had the effect of 
terrifying the doubts of many of the timid, and awing them 
into conformity, it was also pre-eminently calculated to drive 
away all those whose doubts were founded upon careful and 
conscientious investigation, and to stir up irreconcilable 

oscillated between those two powers, sometimes attracted towards 
Luther, then suddenly repulsed towards the pope." — D'Aubigne's 
Eeformation, p. 180. 

w See D'Aubigne's Reformation, p. 180. The great value of this 
historian consists in his constant reference to his authorities, which are 
of all parties, and therefore give him a strong claim to be considered 
impartial. 



28 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



hostility on the part of those who set any value upon the 
right of private judgment. 

Luther, besides labouring to strengthen the hearts of those 
who seemed disposed to quail beneath this painful and mind- 
searching test, was equally diligent in the aggressive. His 
attacks on the papal power redoubled their bitterness, the 
enthusiasm of the students of Wittemberg knew no bounds, 
and devices, often little creditable to Christianity under any 
denomination, were unsparingly employed to bring the pontiff 
and his supporters into ridicule. It was the failing of Luther, 
that he too readily fell in with a taste for lampoon and banter, 
which, however attributable to the defective state of social 
manners at the time, was prone to degrade the truth it sought 
to elevate. Well has D'Aubigne observed : — " Faith is too 
beautiful, that we should lower her to the mire. She ought 
to combat without the aid of songs, caricatures, and carnival 
scenes. Perhaps without these popular scenes her successes 
will be less apparent ; but they will be purer, and consequently 
more durable. " x 

The progress of the work of the reform might well be 
estimated from the supine indifference manifested by many, 
who were most interested in the preservation of the old 
system. "Even those who hold from the pope the best 
benefices and the richest canonries," as Eck himself confessed, 
" remained mute as fishes ; many of them even extolled 
Luther as a man filled with the Spirit of God, and called the 
defenders of the pope sophists and flatterers." 7 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Luther summoned to the Diet of Worms. 

The influence of the elector had prevented the diet, 
already assembled at Worms, 2 from proceeding to pronounce 

x P. 183. 

y Apud D'Aubigne, ibid. Aleander was not idle in the mean time, 
having procured another bull to be published on the 3rd Jan. 1521, not 
only condemning Luther's writings but proclaiming himself a heretic 
without any limitations whatsoever. See Pallav. i. 25, who pursues the 
subject at great length. 

z Convened at the request of the elector, who " employed his credit 
with Charles to prevent the publication of any unjust edict against this 
reformer, and to have his cause tried by the canons of the Germania 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



29 



a final sentence against Luther ; while Frederick, unwilling 
to disoblige either party, had promised a safe-conduct for 
Luther, with the view of procuring his appearance at Worms. 
The violence of Aleander, who argued bitterly against the 
idea of Luther being suffered to present himself before the 
assembly, fell without effect upon the cool impartiality or 
indifference of his hearers. In vain did he urge the revival 
by Luther of the past heresies of Wickliffe and Huss ; in 
vain did he, in strong and eloquent terms, dwell upon the 
oft-broken promises of Luther to return to the faith of the 
Church ; all his appliances of energy and eloquence, aided by 
gold from the papal treasury, and the most attractive promises, 
were spent in vain. Pallavicino candidly confesses that his 
efforts to sway the wavering minds of the assembly proved 
fruitless. 

Charles was determined to give Luther a fair hearing, 
ostensibly upon the representation of the elector, that the 
works attributed to Luther, and condemned in the papal 
bull, could not be from his pen. Luther accordingly set out, 
protected by a safe-conduct from the emperor, and with a 
mind made up to brave the worst consequences that might 
xesult from the rancour of his opponents. a Accompanied by 

Church and the laws of the empire. This request was so much the more 
likely to be granted, that Charles was under much greater obligations 
to Frederick than to any other of the German princes, as it was chiefly 
by his zealous and important services that he had been raised to the 
empire in opposition to the pretensions of such a formidable rival as 
Francis I., king of France. The emperor was sensible of his obligations 
to the worthy elector, and was entirely disposed to satisfy his demands. 
That, however, he might do this without displeasing the Roman pontiff, 
he resolved that Luther should be called before the council that was to 
be assembled at Worms in the year 1521, and that his cause should be 
there publicly heard, before any final sentence should be pronounced 
-against him. It may, perhaps, appear strange, and even inconsistent 
with the laws of the Church, that a cause of a religious nature should 
be examined and decided in the public diet ; but it must "be considered 
that these diets, in which the archbishops, bishops, and even certain 
-abbots had their places, as well as the princes of the empire, were not 
only political assemblies, but also provincial councils for Germany, to 
whose jurisdiction, by the ancient canon law, such causes as that of 
Luther properly belonged." — Mosheim, p. 15, I. c. 

a Some touching passages, illustrative of Luther's feelings and of the 
apprehensions of his friends, will be found in D'Aubigne', ch. iv. to vi. 
Waterworth simply says : — "Luther seems to have been delighted at 
the opportunity of professing his faith, or of obtaining further notoriety! " 



30 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



an efficient guard, and by a few chosen friends, whose enthu- 
siasm made them fitting companions of his journey, he set out, 
and having, on his way, preached at Weimar in defence of 
his doctrines respecting justification by faith; he reached 
Worms on the 16th of April. 

A cavalcade of nobles and gentlemen rode out to give him 
escort into the city, and the streets were filled with people, 
some attracted by regard, all by curiosity. b On alighting 
from his chariot, he exclaimed, " God will stand up for me." 
If, as there is unhappily reason to believe, some remnants of 
vanity yet lurked in the mind of Martin, the reception he 
experienced at Worms would not have been favourable 
towards repressing it. Crowds surrounded his hotel, and 
the visits of the great scarcely allowed him time to repose 
from the fatigues of his journey. Various were their opinions ; 
some thought him divinely inspired, others believed him 
possessed by a devil. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

He ajipears before the Diet, 

On the following day, 17th of April, 1521, Luther con- 
fronted his opponents. " Never had man stood before 
so august an assembly. The emperor Charles, whose 
kingdom extended over the old and the new worlds ; his 
brother, the archduke Ferdinand ; six electors of the empire, 
whose descendants now almost all wear kingly crowns ; eighty 
dukes, most of them reigning over countries of greater or 
less extent, and amongst whom were some whose names were 
destined by-and-by to become formidable to the Reformation ; 
the duke of Alva and his two sons ; eighty margraves, thirty 
archbishops, bishops, or prelates, seven ambassadors, among 
them those of the kings of France and England ; the deputies 
of ten free cities, a great number of princes, and sovereign 
counts, and barons ; lastly, the pope's nuncios, in all, two 

b Pallav. i. 26, p. 173 : "Alcuni per affezione, tutti per curiosita." 
Throughout this portion of Luther's history Father Paul is remarkably 
meagre in his account ; Pallavicino diffuse and animated. 

c Pallav. p. 174. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



31 



hundred and four personages, constituted the imposing court 
before which Martin Luther appeared." d 

John von Eck, e a friend of Aleander's, and chancellor to 
the archbishop of Triers, put two questions to Luther, first 
in Latin, and then in German, " whether the books pro- 
duced, copies of which had been procured by the diligence 
of Aleander, f were his ; and whether he still maintained 
the opinions professed therein 1 " To the first question, after 
the titles had been read,s he promptly answered in the 
affirmative ; to the second, however, he demurred, alleging 
that it was a difficult matter, and one in which the word of 
God and the salvation of souls were concerned, and required 
time to deliberate. This request surprised and annoyed many 
of those present, who expected a more decisive answer to so 
important a question ; he was, however, permitted to delay 
his reply until the following day. 

In defending the tenets advocated in his books, he ob- 
served that they were not all of one kind ; that one class of 
them embraced the doctrine of faith and piety, while another 
class rebuked the dogmas of the pontiffs, a third being 
directed against the defenders of the opposite doctrine. 
That if he were to retract the books of the first kind, he 
would not be acting like a Christian, or even as an upright 
man, seeing that, although the bull of Leo had condemned 
them all, it had not judged them all impious. As to the 
books of the second class, it was but too well known, that all 
the provinces of the Christian world, but Germany in ]Dar- 
ticular, were miserably harassed and pillaged, and groaned 
under the yoke of servitude : to abjure these, then, would 
be the same as rooting that tyranny more deeply. Touching 
the third class, he confessed that he had been more bitter 
and vehement than was fitting, but that he had not set up a 
profession of holiness, nor had undertaken to defend his life 
and morals, but his doctrine only, of which he should be 
willing to render an account. He added that he was, of all 
men, least disposed to be obstinate, and that if any one 

d DAubigne', p. 203. 

e Not the theologian of that name. 

f Pallav. ibid. 

s At the instance of his counsel, Jerome Schnrff. — DAub. p. 204. 



32 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



oould confute and convince him by the testimony of Scrip- 
ture, he would be the first to cast his own writings into the 
names. 11 

On being asked whether, if his opinions were shown to 
have been condemned by the councils of the Church, and 
especially by the Council of Constance, he would revoke them, 
he answered in the negative. " Since your most serene 
majesty," replied he, " and your high mightinesses, demand 
a simple, clear, and explicit answer of me, I will give it :* 
I cannot submit my faith either to pope or councils, since it 
is as clear as the day that they have often fallen into error, 
and even into great contradictions with themselves. If, 
then, I am not convinced by testimonies from Scripture, or 
by evident reasons, if I am not persuaded by the very pas- 
sages I have cited, and if my conscience be not then made 
captive by the word of God, I can and will retract nothing; 
for it is not safe for the Christian to speak against his con- 
science." He then added the brief, but emphatic ejacula- 
tion : " Here I stand : I can no otherwise ; God help me ! 
Amen." Upon this, the assembly broke up. k 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Luther is dismissed from Worms. His Seizure and Captivity. 

It is a painful thing to find that religious bigotry can in- 
fluence men's minds in cases where common honesty is the 
only rule of conduct. Thus it was with Luther's enemies. 
It had been fully determined that Luther should be com- 
manded to leave the imperial dominions within the space of 
twenty days, provided, however, according to promise, with 
vho*jb ton bib v * 3&di ^tii&oqqsjs, ai Jsbrfo/M tiibn «w|jfs -1 ha& 

wixYi&wsa eldsissoaod bras blirn ed* siudh^fr oit firf mo&& ©a 'V££>~'2 

h For this synopsis I am indebted to Sarpi, p. 11 (Latin ed.). The 
oration is given rather fully in D'Aubigne, p. 205, sq. This latter 
writer, however, seems to exaggerate the dangers of Luther's position, 
.although in the main agreeing with the similar ideas of Schlegel (apud 
Mosheim, p. 112, sq. v. iii. ed. Soames), relative to the journey to 
Worms. Luther had good reason to rely on the protection of the 
elector, besides perceiving that the popularity of his most violent enemies 
was but doubtful. 

* The Latin is very quaint : " Dabo illud neque dentatum, neque 
cornutum." — Apud D'Aub. p. 206. 

k Compare Michelet, p. 17, whose matter is, however, almost common 
with that of D'Aubigne\ 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



33 



a safe-conduct, on condition of his offering no acts of aggres- 
sion to the doctrines and practices of the Romish church, 
while on Ins journey. But the elector of Brandenburg, and 
several ecclesiastical princes, quoted the doctrine of the 
Council of Constance, which made it lawful to break faith 
with a heretic. 1 Whatever may have been the feelings of 
the young emperor m on the subject, the honest indignation 
of the German princes, even of George, duke of Saxony, 
warmly resented the idea of such treachery; public feeling 
was aroused, and Luther quitted Worms, it might almost be 
said, in triumph. 

On reaching Friedberg, he dismissed the officer of the 
emperor, by whom he had been accompanied, placing in his 
hands the safe- conduct ; in order that no direct violence 
might seem to be offered to the imperial authority in the 
seizure of his person which had been planned by the elector. 11 
This took place on the third of May, when he had set out 
for Wittemberg, accompanied only by a few attendants. 
His carriage was attacked with some show of violence, his 
attendants dispersed, and himself placed on a led horse, and 
carried away to the fortress of Wartzburg, belonging to the 
elector of Saxony ; it having been arranged that Frederick 
should not be informed into which of his castles Luther had 
been conveyed, in order that he might be able to deny all 
knowledge of the place of his concealment. 

1 Sleidan apud Courayer, t. i. p. 33. The French author has well 
refuted Pallavicino's attempts to invalidate the statement of Father Paul. 

m See a curious passage from Sandoval, in D'Aubigne, p. 208. 

n Mosheim, c. xvii. Michelet, p. 18. Pallav. i. 18. The account 
given by D'Aubigne, p. 215, sq. is rhetorical and unsatisfactory. N"or 
can I agree with Michelet, in supposing that Luther " did not clearly 
know to whom he was to attribute the mild and honourable captivity 
in which he was detained." It is difficult to understand how he could 
have remained in ignorance, even supposing the whole matter was not 
preconcerted. 

Pallav. I. c. p. 180. 



D 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Luther is placed under the Imperial Ban. 

Meantime, Aleancler had not been idle, and having ob- 
tained the signature of Charles, he published the following 
decree against Luther and his party :P — 

" We, Charles the Fifth, to all electors, princes, prelates, 
and others whom it may concern. 

" The Almighty having confided to us, for the defence of 
his holy faith, more kingdoms, and more power than have 
ever been given to any of our predecessors, we are resolved 
to exert all our powers to hinder any heresy from polluting 
our holy empire. 

" The Augustinian monk Martin Luther, though ex- 
horted by us, has flung himself like a frantic man upon the 
holy Church, and sought to stifle it by books full of blas- 
phemies : he has sullied in a shameful manner the hide- 
structible ]aw of holy marriage ; he has laboured to excite 
laymen to lave their hands in the blood of priests, and 
casting off all obedience, he has not ceased to excite to revolt, 
dissension, war, murder, rapine, and fire, and to toil for the 

complete ruin of the faith of Christians In a word, not 

to mention so many other wickednesses, this creature, who 
is not a man, but Satan himself under the form of a man, 
and covered with the cowl of a monk, has gathered into one 
fetid slough all the most guilty heresies of past times, and 
has, moreover, added to them new ones of his own. 

" We have therefore dismissed from before our face this 
Luther, whom all pious and right-thinking men regard as a 
madman, or as one possessed by the devil ; and it is our 
intention, that, after the expiration of his safe-conduct, 
instant and efficacious measures be taken to check his raging 
frenzy. 

" Therefore, under pain of incurring the punishment due 
to crimes of lese-majesty, we forbid you to harbour the said 
Luther from the time the fatal term shall have expired, to 

p I follow the version given in D'Aubigne, p. 214. Maclaine, in his 
edition of Mosheim, part ii. cent. xvi. § xviii. note, has some temperate 
and just remarks on the impolitic and unsatisfactory conduct of Charles 
in promulgating this decree. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



58 



succour him, to give liini food and drink, and by word or deed 
publicly or privately to lend bhn any manner of aid. We 
enjoin you, moreover, to seize hini, or to cause him to be 
seized, wherever you shall see him, and to bring him before 
us without delay, or to keep him in all safety, till you 
shall have learned from us how you are to act with regard 
to him, and have received the retributions due to your pains 
in so holy a work. 

" As for his adherents, you shall seize them, put them 
down, and confiscate their goods. 

" As for his writings, if the very best nutriment becomes 
a bane to all men from the moment a drop of poison is 
mixed with it, how much more should such books, in which 
is found a mortal poison for the soul, be not only rejected, 
but even annihilated. You shall burn them, therefore, or 
wholly destroy them in some other manner. 

" As for authors, poets, printers, painters, sellers or pur- 
chasers of placards, writings or paintings against the pope 
or the Church, you shall seize their goods and persons, and 
deal with them according to your good pleasure. 

u And if any one, whatever be his dignity, should dare to 
act in contravention to the decree of our imperial majesty, 
we command that he be placed under the ban of the empire. 

" Let every one comport himself in conformity herewith.'' 

CHAPTER, XX.<i 

Death of Leo, who is succeeded oy Adrian VI. 

But this ban was rendered ineffectual by the departure of 
Charles to Spain, and the delegating of his authority to the 
elector of Saxony and other j>arties favourable to Luther. 
Leo X. died soon after, and was succeeded, on Jan. 9th, 1522, 
by Adrian VI., a pontiff whose character and accomplish- 
ments gave great hopes to the supporters of the old system 
of religion. Sinrple and unpretending in his habits, he sought 
to reform the extravagances and luxury of the Romish 
court, and especially to set aright the maladministration of 

* It is not my intention to enter into the particular? of Luther's con- 
finement, as they in no way bear upon the present subject. D Aubigne 
and Michelet will furnish enough to satisfy the reader. 

D 2 



36 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



indulgences. 1 Hoping that his influence might be rendered 
greater from his being a native of Utrecht, he sent Cherigato 
as his nuncio to the emperor of Germany, who had been his 
pupil, instructing him to spare no means of bringing back 
the dissenting party to the Church of Rome, and complaining 
that the ban, under which Luther was placed, was rendered 
of no avail by the interference of his friends, and that not 
only among the common people, but among the nobles like- 
wise, who were, moreover, seizing upon the goods of the 
Church in all directions, as though these were the chief in- 
centive to their apostasy. He at the same time allowed 
that the troubled state of the times was a just punishment 
from God for the sins of the clergy and people, and pro- 
fessed his willingness to remedy abuses, the existence of 
which it was no longer of any use to deny. 

These instructions were communicated to the diet assem- 
bled at Nuremberg, together with some severe complaints 
against many of the priests throughout Germany, who had led 
secular lives, and even married, contrary to the law of the 
Church. But although the conscientiousness of Adrians 
confession might have aroused some hopes of haviug justice 
done, and matters of religion placed on a more moderate and 
equitable footing — the princes of Germany had been too 
vividly enlightened as to the incompatibility of Reform and 
Romanism, to rest satisfied with general promises. Accord- 
ingly, while congratulating the new pope on his succession in 
terms at once friendly, courteous, and submissive, they at the 
same time declare their imwillingness to interfere harshly 
with Luther, suggesting a general council as the best means 
of settling all religious disturbances, and naming several 
towns as places well calculated for the assembling thereof. 
At the same time they mentioned numerous abuses, espe- 
cially in the exactions made by the Church, and the misap- 
propriation of her funds. The nuncio found himself at a 
loss, and withdrew. s 

Soon after the nuncio had departed, a piece was published 

r In which, however, he seems to have betrayed no small indecision 
and uncertainty. See Sarpi, p. 16, sqq. Pallavicino, ii. 5, 6, has 
devoted considerable space to impugning Father Paul's notions on the 
subject of indulgences. 

s See Sarpi, p. 21-23. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



37 



by the secular leaders of the diet, entitled The Centum Gra- 
vamina, in which the various injuries inflicted upon the 
German nation by the papal power were earnestly and bit- 
terly set forth. The leading subjects of complaint were the 
immense sums they were continually compelled to expend 
under the form of dispensations, absolutions, and indul- 
gences ; the processes summoned from Germany to Rome ; 
the reservations in commendam and of annates ; the exemp- 
tion of ecclesiastical offenders from the courts of justice ; the 
excommunications and unjust interdicts ; the causes of the 
laity brought into the ecclesiastical court under various pre- 
texts ; the immense sums spent on the consecrations of 
churches and cemeteries, and the expense attendant on the 
receiving of the sacraments, and the burial of the dead.t 

Whether this sincere and upright pontiff (whose honesty 
was but ill appreciated by the Roman Catholics) would have 
effected a union of the dismembered body of the Church, we 
cannot tell ; but all hopes on the subject were destroyed by 
his death, which took place on the 14th September, 1523, 
after he had occupied the pontifical throne little more than 
a year. u 

CHAPTER XXL 
Clement VII. succeeds to the Papal Throne. 
Julio de' Medici, cousin of Leo X., who had retained con- 
siderable influence during the reign of the two last popes, 

4 Sarpi, p. 23. Pallavicino is bitter against Adrian for his candour 
in confessing the errors of which the clergy had been guilty, and which 
had brought on the work of reformation at the hands of Luther. Dr. 
Waterworth, who seems to have little admiration for candour, echoes 
his original (p. 37). Courayer, with better feeling and judgment, ob- 
serves : " Le Cardinal Pallavicino, qui connoissoit mieux les maximes 
d'une politique mondaine que celles de l'evangile, trouve qu'x4.drien se 

conduisit en cela avec beaucoup plus de zele que de prudence 

Ceux qui connoissent mieux les devoirs d'un Eveque que les artifices 
d'une politique mondaine, ne sauroient qu'admirer la droiture d'Adrien, 
dont la Cour de Rome n'etoit pas digne." — T. i. p. 54. See also Jortin, 
Life of Erasmus, v. i. p. 324. 

u There is some reason to suspect that his death took place under cir- 
cumstances of foul play. " So gratifying to the Romish populace was 
his decease, that the night after it took place, the front door of his prin- 
cipal physician was decorated with a wreath of flowers, surmounted with 
the inscription, for the deliverer of his country.'' — Schlegel apud Mosh. 
p. 115, ed. Soames. 



38 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



now became pontiff, under the name of Clement VII. Deep 
and varied erudition, tact and penetration seldom wanting, 
and matured experience, were qualifications from which, the 
happiest results might have been expected. But he had 
entered upon his office at an unfavourable season, as will 
hereafter be made apparent. 

Clement seems to have been little favourable to the con- 
vocation of a council, foreseeing that the discontented party 
would not be likely to yield to its dictates, especially after 
the open renunciation of all authority but that of Scripture, 
on the part of Luther. Perceiving, however, that The Cm- 
turn Gravamina, which were now published/ contained many 
demands for reform in matters not directly affecting the 
Homan court, he thought that if the Germans could be satis- 
fied on some points more immediately concerning themselves, 
they would be less likely to meddle with matters appertain- 
ing to Home. By this reformation, therefore, of the German 
Church, he hoped to evade the calling of a council, w fearing 
that " the attempt to heal one disorder might only create a 
greater. " x 

Campeggio, a prelate of undoubted prudence and reputa- 
tion, was despatched by him to Nuremberg, where he urged 
the assembled princes, both on religious and political grounds, 
not to desert the religion of their ancestors, and declared the 
pope's intention of reforming the abuses of the German Church. 

But although many reformations were made among the 
weak and uninfluential members of the Church, the greater 
offenders and monopolists remained secure ; and the Germans 
were too wise not to perceive that what had been already 
done had been the result of a desire to flatter them into 
tranquillity, not to promote the real work of religious reform. 
Moreover, despite the complaints of Campeggio, the evident 
disinclination of the pontiff to a general council made the 
princes of Germany more urgent in insisting thereon. 

Although, at a small assembly y held at Batisbon, the 

v They will be found in Le Plat's Collectio Momimentorum ad Concil. 
Trid. v. ii. p. 164, sqq. 

w Sarpi, p. 24. x Waterworth, p. 38. 

J Sarpi, p. 26. There were present the Archduke Ferdinand, the 
dukes of Bavaria, the archbishop of Saltzburg, the bishops of Trent and 
Katisbon, and the legates of nine other bishops. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



39 



legate had procured a confirmation of the edict passed by the 
Diet of Worms in condemnation of Luther ; still this only 
excited indignation on the part of the absent majority; who 
argued that " in that attempt at reformation, things of the 
greatest moment had been neglected, while all their thoughts 
had been directed to the correction of matters most unim- 
portant ; that the German people certainly suffered much 
from the lowest class of the clergy ; much more from bishops 
and prelates holding what was not their due ; but most of all 
from the oppressions of the court of Rome ; and that of 
these matters, as to any correction of them either according 
to the example of the primitive Church, or on a still better 
principle, not even the slightest mention had been made." a 

Charles Y. was incensed at the slight offered to his dignity 
by the Nuremberg assembly, in decreeing matters of such 
importance without his knowledge, and expressed particular 
annoyance at their having insisted on the convocation of a 
council, alleging that the matter belonged rather to himself 
and the pontiff to consider, than to them. Adhering to the 
pontiff, he endeavoured to enforce the observance of the 
decree passed at Worms. But various circumstances 13 tended 
first to shake his fidelity, and subsequently to arouse his 
enmity against Clement. At length, so completely was all 
good-will between the pope and the emperor forgotten, that 
the latter abandoned his design of insisting on the observance 
of the edict of Worms, and sacrificed old associations to 
secure credit with the Lutherans, in order to make head 
against the strong combination arising in the opposite direc- 

a Sarpi, p. 27. Courayer, p. 68, sq. has some judicious observations, 
calculated to silence the trifling excuses which Pallavicino has attempted 
to put forth in defence of the " do-nothing" style of reformation which 
the legate had attempted. 

b My limits only permit me to refer to Sarpi, p. 71-80, ed. Courayer ; 
Pallav. ii. 13 ; Eanke, c. iii. p. 28, sqq. ; and the original correspondence, 
&c. published in Le Plat's second volume. 

c "Implicitum tamen tenuit foedus a multis principibus contra eum 
initum, et de rege captivo Galliarum [i. e. Francis the First] liberando 
capta consilia. Pontifex etiam, quod Italiam indefensam, ministrorum 
Csesaris imperio arbitrioque permissam conspicabatur, Csesaremque 
adeo praepotentem, ut pontiflcatum haberet sibi obnoxium, cogitare ccepit 
de consociandis sibi regibus ac principibus, qui ab imperatoris, si 
quando alienior esset, injuriis ipsum protegerent." — Sarpi, p. 28. Com- 
pare Mosheim, § xxiii. sq. p. 123, sq. v. iii. ed. Soames. 



40 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



tion. Accordingly, in the Diet of Spires, opened in June, 
1526, lie contented himself with requiring that matters 
should be left in their present state, until he should be able 
to treat personally with the pontiff respecting the holding 
of a general council.* 1 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Increased Ill-feeling between Clement and Charles. 

Each party was now arranging itself against the other ; 
distrust had begotten an enmity that ill promised to admit 
of a satisfactory adjustment; and Clement, dreading the pro- 
bable usurpation of power in Italy at the hands of the 
emperor, entered into a treaty with the king of France, now 
liberated from captivity, and with the Venetians. He also 
complained in bitter terms of the ingratitude and coldness 
which the emperor had latterly displayed towards him, and a 
correspondence between them, which fully shows the political 
power to which the principles of reform had attained, was 
published in various parts of Germany, Spain, and Italy. e 

But the great blow was struck by the noble family of 
Colonna f (whose hatred to the pope arose chiefly from his 
illegitimacy, and from doubts as to the means by which he 
had attained to the pontifical see), who laid siege to Rome, 
and pillaged the decorations of the Vatican and the church 
of St. Peter with reckless cupidity. A truce was agreed 
upon, but the pope having excommunicated and cursed the 
Colonna family, the Neapolitan regent was urged by them 
to send his troops against Rome to avenge this breach of 
treaty. Charles of Bourbon, moreover, at the instigation 
of George Friindsberg, an old Lutheran general,? led the 
portion of the imperial troops then under his command, 
on a plundering excursion, and having passed the Po, 

d Sarpi, p. 28. e Id. p. 32. 

1 See Sarpi, p. 29-32. " Cardinalis enim [i. e. Pompeius Colonna], 
homo audax et fastuosus, pontificem ambitus palam incusabat, quasi 
viis parum licitis ad eum dignitatis gradum ascendisset ; et familiam 
Colomnensem hoc in primis nomine magni faciebat, quod fatali in illegi- 
timos, et in earn sedem malis artibus intrudentes pontifices odio, tyran- 
nidem eorum virtute sua compressissent." 

s Friindsberg had died of apoplexy, on failing to meet with the usual 
obedience, while attempting to quell a disturbance among his troops. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



41 



marched on to Koine. Despite a truce which was made, 
on conditions little befitting the pontifical dignity, 11 the- 
Bourbon, on the 6th of May, 1527, laid siege to Borne, 
stormed the castle of St. Angelo, and shut up Clement as a 
prisoner. " Thus did the pope, who had sought the liberation 
of Italy, see himself beleaguered in the castle of St. Angelo, 
and as it were a prisoner. It may be asserted, that by this- 
great blow, the preponderance of the Spanish power in Italy 
was irrevocably established." 1 Of equal importance, as attest- 
ing the gradual falling off of the papal power, was the 
simultaneous revolt at Florence, the pope's native city, by 
which the Medici were expelled from power by their 
enemies. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

They again coalesce. 

Under these circumstances, the pope, oppressed by a com- 
plication of misfortunes, many of which were the accumulated 
result of his predecessors' mistaken policy, was compelled to 
have recourse to the aid of the very parties, who had thus 
outraged his dignity. The emperor professed great regret at 
what had taken place, but few could have believed him sincere. 
It was, however, in vain for the pope to resist the adverse 
current of events ; and even the proffered aid of the adherents, 
whose support had deprived him of the emperor's friendship, 
failed to re-assure him. " With amazement," says Banke, 
"men beheld him again connecting himself with the Spaniards, 
after enduring such deep indignities at their hands. His 
motive was, that he saw in Spanish aid the only means of 

h On condition of a cessation of arms for the space of eight months, 
the Colonna family were to be freed from the ban of excommunication, 
Pompeio Colonna to be restored to the senatorial rank from which he had 
been degraded, while a large sum of money was to be paid by the pontiff. 
— Sarpi, p. 34. 

1 Ranke, p. 31. I may here take an opportunity of mentioning that 
Henry VIII. of England assisted the pope considerably during his 
besieged state ; but that the matters connected with his divorce from 
Catherine broke the friendship thus established, and were followed by a 
gradual but definite abjuration of the papal power by that monarch. It 
is foreign to my purpose to enter into the particulars of that oft-told and 
well-known history; but for a calm and dispassionate examination of 
the conduct of Henry, and the motives by which he was probably 
actuated, I cannot do better than refer my readers to Blunt's "[Reforma- 
tion in England," ch. vii. p. Ill, sqq. 



42 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



reinstating his kindred and party in Florence. It seemed to 
liini better to endure the domination of the emperor than 
the refractory conduct of the rebels. The worse the fortune of 
the French, the nearer did he draw to the Spaniards. When 
at last the former were completely defeated, he concluded 
with the latter the treaty of Barcelona, So wholly did he 
change his policy, that he now himself made use of the same 
army that had taken Rome before his eyes, and kept himself 
so long besieged, that he made use of this, only recruited 
and improved, to subjugate his native city." k 

CHAPTEE XXIY. 

Second Diet of Spires. 

In March, 1529, another diet was convened at Spires, in 
which Giovanni Mirandolo, the pope's deputy, besides urging 
the arrangement of measures to oppose the inroads of the 
Turks, and a reconciliation between the emperor and the king 

k Ranke, p. 31. The result of these disagreements, in their influence 
in advancing the cause of the reformed religion, is well stated by 
Mosheim : " Several princes, whom the fear of persecution and punish- 
ment had hitherto prevented from lending a hand to the good work, 
being delivered now from their restraint, renounced publicly the super- 
stition of Rome, and introduced among their subjects the same forms of 
religious worship, and the same system of doctrine, that had been 
received in Saxony. Others, though placed in such circumstances as 
discouraged them from acting in an open manner against the interests 
of the Roman pontiffs, were, however, far from discovering the smallest 
opposition to those who withdrew the people from his despotic yoke, nor 
did they molest the private assemblies of such as had separated them- 
selves from the Church of Rome. And, in general, all the Germans, 
who, before these resolutions of the Diet of Spires, had rejected the papal 
discipline and doctrine, were now, in consequence of the liberty they 
enjoyed by these resolutions, wholly employed in bringing these schemes 
and plans to a certain degree of consistence, and in adding vigour and 
firmness to the glorious cause in which they were engaged. In the 
mean time, Luther and his fellow-labourers — particularly those who 
were with him at Wittemberg — by their writings, their instructions, 
their admonitions and counsels, inspired the timorous with fortitude, 
dispelled the doubts of the ignorant, fixed the principles and resolution 
of the flagging and irresistant, and animated all the friends of genuine 
Christianity with a spirit suitable to the grandeur of the undertaking." 
— § xxv. p. 20, ed. Maclaine. See, also, on the visitations instituted 
during this period, an important note in Soame's edition, v. iii. 
p. 125. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



43 



of France, exhorted them, above all, to compose the religious 
dissensions with which the Christian world was harassed. 
Although the Anabaptist sects were not represented at this 
meeting, the rival parties of Zwingie and Luther were 
more mindful of their interests, and the popish power had 
reason to derive some hopes from their differences respecting 
the Lord's Supper. The landgrave of Hesse made a vain 
attempt to persuade both these parties that their differences 
were less important than they seemed ; and the emperor, 
represented by his brother Ferdinand, was desirous to return 
back to his former policy, and enforce the almost obsolete 
edict of Worms. He complained that the late edict of 
Spires had been taken advantage of as a pretext for in- 
troducing innovations of the most absurd, discordant, and 
dangerous character, and claimed for himself, by virtue of 
his absolute power, the right to abrogate that edict. 

But the elector of Saxony and his party were equally 
anxious for its continuance ; and Charles, whose previous 
inconsistency must have shaken the undoubted influence 
which his position would otherwise have secured for him, 
was compelled to compromise the matter. A commission 
having been instituted, it was resolved, .upon their repre- 
sentation, that where the edict of Worms had been received, 
it should continue in force till a general council should be 
held ; where the ancient religion had kept its ground, it was 
not to be disturbed ; and where the new one possessed such 
influence as to render it dangerous to interfere with it, 
it should be left unmolested until the said council should be 
assembled. Furthermore, the sacrifice of the mass was to be 
retained, even where the opposite party prevailed ; the Ana- 
baptists were to be punished with the utmost severity ; and 
the Scriptures were to be interpreted in accordance with the 
-expositions handed down by the fathers, and ratified by the 
apj>roval of the Church. 

This qualified concession was, however, ill calculated to 
satisfy those whom it was intended to keep quiet. They 
urged that it was unjust to depart from the decree of the 
previous diet, by which each man was permitted the free use 
of his own religion until the council should be held, especially 
as what had been done with the comm on consent of all, ought 
not to be rescinded without a like universality of agreement. 



44 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



They also complained of the fruitlessness of the attempts at 
reform which had been ostensibly made, and again repeated 
their belief, that a council was the only expeditious way of 
removing controversies. As to the restoration of the mass 
in its complete state, that was but the revival of an old 
abuse ; while the question of the interpreting of Scripture 
involved another, as to what was the true Church. They 
therefore declined giving assent to sanctioning so obscure a 
document, as being likely to open a way for fresh tumults 
and discussions, but professed their willingness to render an 
account of their reasons for dissenting. 1 

On the 12th of April, twenty-one of the free cities ex- 
pressed their assent to the proposed resolutions, but fourteen 
resolutely held out. On the 18th, it was resolved that the 
dissentient party should not be allowed another hearing, and 
on the 1.9th, they were called upon to give in an uncon- 
ditional assent. Hereupon, six princes, and the deputies of 
fourteen cities 111 of the empire, protested against the decision of 
this diet ; and, upon their opposition being disregarded, 
they, on the following day, presented a written protest, 
declaring that the resolutions of the diet were opposed to 
the spirit of the Gospel, and appealed to a future council. 
This protest was the origin of the word Protestant. 11 Accord- 

1 Sarpi, p. 37. 

m The princes and states which joined in this protest were the elector 
John of Saxony, the margrave George of Brandenburg, Anszbach and 
Culmbach, the dukes Ernest and Francis of Liineburg, the landgrave 
Philip of Hesse, Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt ; and fourteen imperial 
cities, viz. Strasburg, Ulm, Nuremberg, Constance, lieuttingen, Winel- 
sheim, Menneingen, Lindau, Kempten, Heilbron, Lang, Weissenberg, 
Nordlingen, and St. Gall. They appealed to the emperor, to a future, 
general, or free council of the German nation, and, lastly, to every im- 
partial judge ; for they believed that a majority of VGtes in a diet could 
decide a secular question, but not a spiritual or religious question. 
They appealed to the emperor, not as recognising him as their judge in 
a matter of religion, but merely that he might allow their appeal to a 
council to be valid. And they subjoined the appeal to a council, be- 
cause, according to the ecclesiastical law of Germany, religious contro- 
versies are not to be decided by decrees of a diet, but by a national 
council. We may also here remark, that this was not the first protest, 
but that in the year 1523, at the Diet of Nuremberg, the elector of Saxony, 
and the evangelical dukes, and imperial cities, protested against the 
decree of the diet. — Mosheim, ed. Soames, p. 126, note. 

n " A name which, according to the principles of the Fathers and the 



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45 



ing to Waterworth, the edict to which this protest referred, 
finally passed the diet on the 23rd of April, but was not 
published till May 6th. 

CHAPTER XXY. 

Controversy between Luther and Zwingle. 

But firm and manly as was the opposition maintained by 
those who had seceded from the Church of Rome, they were 
deficient in that unity which alone could consolidate their 
resources, and give a healthful and convincing colour to their 
proceedings. After Luther's return to Wittemberg. Carl- 
stadt, Zwingle, the Zwichau prophets, Manzer, and the Ana- 
baptist party, had given way to a taste for violent and per- 
sonal controversy, grossly at variance with the spirit of 
tolerance which had been the avowed motive for their seces- 
sion, and sadly tending to shake the cause of reform in the 
ey es of the world at large. 

But the fiercest struggle was between Luther and Zwingle, 
respecting the nature of our Lord's presence in the Eucha- 
rist. Philip, landgrave of Hesse, appointed a conference be- 
tween these celebrated reformers at Maspurg, with the hope of 
reconciling them with each other. Both parties, after some 
hesitation and difficulties, met, Oct. 1st, and an animated 
dispute ensued, which lasted four days, Luther being for the 
most part pitted against (Ecolampadius, and Zwingle against 
Melancthon. When, however, the two chiefs of the con- 
troversy met personally, their language sadly lost temper. 
The searching irony of Zwingle, and the incontinent bitter- 
ness of Luther, gave little hopes of reconciliation. Nor was 
the conduct of Luther defensible on the score of consistency 
with his previous opinions. If he did not advocate transub- 
stantiation in its full extent, he was not far off from doing 
so, while Zwingle seemed to form too low an estimate of the 

Church, especially of those who settled the Arian and similar contro- 
versies, is of itself decisive of the heretical or schismatical character of 
the sects which bear it !" — Waterworth, p. 93. 

"Dall' accennata protesta fattasi nel Convento di Spira derivb in 
Germania il celebre nome di Protestanti, che con vocabolo meno invidi- 
oso vuol dire in effetto : Ribelli at Papa ed a Cesare." — Pallav. ii. 18. 

° After three years' confinement, spent in waiting and commenting 
on the Scriptures. — Cf. Blunt, Reformation, p. 101. 



4G 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



sacramental import of the Eucharist. Both parties claimed 
the victory, which perhaps rather belongs to Zwingle than 
Luther ; but. although anything like an agreement on this 
subject was vainly sought for, and the repulsive conduct 
of Luther displayed little charity or forbearance towards 
those who had dissented from his opinions, the landgrave 
succeeded in procuring a declaration of uniformity touching 
other material points of faith, and an avowal of political 
friendship — an unity which the intemperate zeal of Luther 
had threatened to sever.P 

CHAPTEE XXVI. 

Confession of A ugsburg. 

Meanwhile the emperor went to Bologna to receive his 
coronation from the hands of the pontiff, who was unvulling 
that the ceremony should be celebrated at Rome, in the 
presence of those who had so audaciously pillaged the papal 
capitals They spent four months together, dwelling in the 
same palace, and the pope spared no pains to confirm the 
emperor in his adherence to the edict of Worms, and in dis- 
couraging him from the project of convoking a general 
council. But Charles, although bigoted to his old views, 
foresaw too clearly the dangers arising from the Protestant 
leagues which were forming, and was, moreover, persuaded 
of the legal impossibility of condemning, and making war 
upon inoffensive citizens, without first granting them a 
hearing. Even the pope was at length so far convinced of 
the progress of public opinion, that he yielded a consent to 
the convoking of a council, but only on condition that it 
should be deemed necessary for the extirpation of the 
Lutheran heresy. 1 

A general diet had been summoned at Augsburg, almost alL 

p See Sarpi, p. 3S : Pal] ay. iii. 1 ; DAubigne, pt. iv. ch. vii. The 
celebrated Bucer was also largely interested in this controversy. Some 
important passages from Luther's works, in which he unsparingly 
condemns the rationalistic class of theologians, who were fast acquiring 
influence, will be found in Michelet, p. 41, ch. iv. 

c i So Sarpi. But both Guicciardini and Sleidan give more probable 
reasons, viz. the convenience of the emperor while on his journey, and 
the desire to avoid expense. See Courayer, v. i. p. 94. 

r See the authorities quoted by Courayer, p. 95, note 87. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



47 



the princes being more prompt in their attendance than the 
emperor, who, however, arrived on the 15th June, 1530. The 
Protestant princes declined appearing at mass; and the legate, 
vexed at this insnlt offered to the pontiff, persuaded Charles 
to call upon the elector of Saxony, in virtue of his office, to 
act as swordbearer before him when he went to mass eight 
days after, at which time the beginning of the convention was 
fixed. The elector was placed in a delicate position : either 
he must act inconsistently with the faith he had taken, or 
he must forfeit his family dignity. In this difficulty, he 
appealed to his professor of theology, who asserted that he 
might be present as officiating at a civil, not a religious 
ceremony, justifying this distinction by the example of 
Elijah. 8 

Some cutting remarks from Yicentio Pimpinelli, the nun- 
cio, chiefly intended to incite the Germans to give up reli- 
gious differences, and make common cause against the Turks, 
were delivered on occasion of this mass. 

Hitherto, as Mosheim remarks, " there was not extant 
any tangible exposition of the religion professed by Luther 
and his friends, from which might be learned clearly what 
were their views on doctrinal subjects, and what the grounds 
of their opposition to the Roman pontiffs and as the 
approaching investigation, under circumstances so imposing, 
and involving responsibilities so serious, rendered such a 
document absolutely necessary, John, the elector of Saxony, 
directed Luther, Jonas, Melancthon, and Pomeranus, to 
draw up a set of articles of faith in time for the approaching 
diet. On the basis of the seventeen articles agreed upon at 
Swabach, in the year 1529, which had been approved by the 
elector at Torgau, 11 Melancthon, with considerable toil and 
anxiety, harmonized the opinions of his friends into a brief 
digest, and on the 11th May it was completed, and received 
the approbation of Luther. Many changes, however, were 
subsequently made by the councillors and theologians of the 

s 2 Kings v. 29. Pallavicino has gone out of the way to abuse Sarpi, 
as if the historian were answerable for the doctrines or views of the 
people about whom he writes. See Courayer, p. 100. 

I Section xxviii. p. 128. 

II And thence called the Articles of Torgau. 



48 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



elector. 7 In its complete state it consisted of twenty-one 
articles, and seven chapters touching the abuses of the 
Romish church. w 

This confession, subscribed with the names of the elector 
and four princes of the empire, viz. George, margrave of 
Brandenburg ; Ernest, duke of Llineberg ; Philip, landgrave 
of Hesse ; and Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt, was, after being 
publicly read in German by Christian Bayer, the chancellor 
of Saxony, delivered to the emperor, in proof of their 
-agreement with the sentiments therein expressed. 

But it happened unfortunately for the unity of Protest- 
antism, that the articles of the Augsburg Confession touch- 
ing the sacraments, although worded in the manner least 
calculated to give offence, } r et went so far in asserting the 
doctrine of at least consubstantiation, that the Zwinglian 
party were utterly averse from receiving them as the expo- 
•nent of their own ideas on the subject. Hence the imperial 
cities of Strasburg, Constance, Lindau, and Meinningen, put 
forth another document, called " The Confession of the Four 
Cities." x It agreed substantially with that of Augsburg, ex- 
cept as regards the manner of the presence of Christ's body 
in the eucharist, which they held to be spiritual, not phy- 
sicals Although these differences were suffered to amal- 

v Water worth, p. xliv. 

w I shall not enter into details respecting the history or tenets of the 
Confession (or apology, as it was called) of Augsburg, as it will interfere 
with the materials reserved for the commentary on that confession. 
Much that is useful will be found in D'Aubigne, book xiv. The con- 
fession itself will be found in Le Plat, v. ii. p. 332, sqq. or in the Corpus 
et Syntagma Confessionum Fidei, 4to. Genev. m.dc.liv. pt. ii. p. 9, 
sqq. A neat analysis is given in Soame's notes on Mosheim, v. iii. 
p. 138, sqq. 

x Confessio Tetrapolitana. See Le Plat, v. ii. p. 441, sqq. ; Corpus 
et Syntagma Confess, pt. i. p. 174, sqq. ; Augusti Corpus Librorum 
Symbolicorum, p. 327, sqq. 8vo. Elberfeld, 1827. 

y " They say : ' All that the Evangelists, Paul, and the holy Fathers 
have written respecting the venerable sacrament of the body and blood 
of Christ, our preachers teach, recommend, and inculcate with the 
greatest fidelity. Hence, with singular earnestness, they constantly 
proclaim that goodness of Christ towards his followers, whereby, no less 
now than at his Last Supper, to all his sincere disciples, as oft as they 
respect this supper, he condescends to give by the sacraments his real 
body and his real blood, to be truly eaten and drunken as the food and 
drink of their souls, by which they are nourished to eternal life, so that 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



49 



gamate at a subsequent period, yet we cannot but regret 
that less hostility and confusion had accompanied the eager 
and well-meant advocates of reform. But it too frequently 
happens that men, who have anticipated the progress of the 
times, are hurried on by the stream of their own success, and 
are forced to act abruptly, where they expected opportunity 
for deliberation, while new difficulties spring up before they 
have had time to prepare for them. Much of the intemperate 
conduct displayed by the early reformers may be traced to 
the fact, that their success on the one hand, and the sluggish 
or persecuting spirit of their opponents on the other, com- 
pelled them to go to greater lengths than they had ever 
contemplated. Nor was the work of reform unattended by 
the temptations which success, publicity, and the privilege 
of swaying the minds of a large body of the world, must ever 
bring with them. 

The diet itself was opened on the 20th June, when the 
emperor treated of the war with the Turks, and again re- 
curred to the edict of Worms, condemning the inefficacy of 
those passed subsequently, and declaring his intention of 
considering the complaints and statements of all parties, pro- 
vided they were delivered in writing. Two days' notice was 
given to the Protestants to present their confession, which 
they accordingly did at the next session, on the 24th of June. 
On the following day it was read • and the emperor, with the 
view of checking any further attempts at innovation, ordered 
the princes, whose signatures it bore, to be asked whether 
they had any other objections or complaints against the doc- 
he lives and abides in them and they in him.' This confession they 
presented to the emperor in Latin and German ; but he would not allow 
it to be read in public. Yet, when the popish priests had made out a 
confutation of it, he called them before him to hear that confutation 
read ; and then, without allowing* discussion, or permitting them to 
have a copy of the confutation, demanded of them submission to the 
Church of Rome. They refused. This confession of the four cities, 
which was drawn up by Martin Bucer, and had been adopted by the 
senate and people of Augsburg, was the confession of that city for a 
number of years. But afterwards, the four cities, feeling the necessity 
of a union with the Lutherans, lest their popish enemies should swallow 
them up, brought themselves to believe that the Lutherans and they 
differed more in words than in reality ; and therefore they subscribed to 
the Augsburg Confession, and became a part of the Lutheran Church." 
— Soames on Mosh. p. 140. 

E 



50 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



trines and practice of the Catholic Church. After some 
deliberation, they answered in the negative. z 

The day after the reading of the confession, it was resolved, 
in a meeting of the Catholic members of the diet, and chiefly 
at the suggestion of the legate Campeggio, that a confutation 
of the Augsburg Confession should be drawn up, and read in 
council, but not published. a The drawing up of this docu- 
ment was intrusted chiefly to Faber, Eck, and Coehlseus. 
Melancthon and his party, however, seemed disposed to waive 
many of their objections, and the elector was persuaded to 
reduce their demands to two points, viz. the administration 
of the eucharist under both kinds, and the removal of the 
celibacy of the clergy. In fact, Melancthon's conduct, as 
displayed in his letters, betrays a wavering good-nature, 
rather than the stern and consistent spirit of a resolute and 
determined reformer. 13 

Anxious to procure uniformity, with a view to successfully 
opposing the Turks, Charles made trial of a commission, at 
first composed of seven, afterwards of three members of each 
party, but without any satisfactory result. On the 3rd of 
August, the reply prepared by the Catholic theologians was 
read in public diet, and accepted by the emperor. With a 
strange want of policy, as well as of common justice, the 
Protestants were refused a copy of this document, and when 

z Pallav. iii. 3. Waterworth's objections to the preamble of this 
confession will be noticed hereafter. 

a "Legendam pariter ejus doctrinse confutationem, sed cujus ex- 
emplaria nulla sparguntur in vulgus, ne fenestra aperiatur disputa- 
tionibus." — Sarpi, p. 42. 

b See Waterworth, p. xlviii., from whom I extract the following 
amusing note : "Luther, be it observed, had married the nun Catharine 
of Bora. Besides Luther, the other leaders of the Reformation, Me- 
lancthon, Zwingle, Spalatin, Capito, and (Ecolampadius, were married. 
The practice, in fact, was becoming general amongst the renegade 
friars and monks. The remarks of Erasmus to his friend Adrianus are 
well known : ' (Ecolampadius has lately taken a wife, rather an elegant 
girl. Doubtless he intends to mortify the flesh. Some call this 
Lutheran business a tragedy ; but, for my part, I think it partakes 
much more of the character of a comedy ; for I observe that all its plots 
and counterplots end in one invariable catastrophe — a wedding.' " 

c It was ready at an earlier period, but was ordered to be abridged, 
and made milder in its tone. 



COUNCIL OF THENT. 



51 



Melancthon attempted to answer it, d he was forced to con- 
tent himself with the notes taken at the public reading. 

Meanwhile the Confession of the Four Cities, drawn up 
by Bucer and Capito, was presented ; and Zwingle, much to 
the vexation and disgust of Melancthon, forwarded to Charles 
another confession, of his own composing, in which neither 
Catholics nor Lutherans were spared. 

On the 22nd of September, the diet again assembled, when 
time was given the Protestants till the 15th of April following, 
to retract such errors as they had not yet declared against, 
and to consider whether they would return to the faith and 
practice of Catholicism, at least until the meeting of a general 
council, which, the emperor said, the pontiff should convoke 
within the term of six months, or a year at farthest. Mean- 
while the most stringent edicts were put forth in favour of 
the old system ; the publication of religious works by Pro- 
testants was forbidden; and the Anabaptists and Zwinglians 
ordered to be banished from the states of the empire. With 
the exception of the latter clause, this edict was unanimously 
opposed by the Protestant princes, who resolved not to aid 
the pontiff and the emperor in the war against the Turks. 
On the 22nd, this decree, obsolete in purpose, and violent in 
its whole tendency, was published, and the breach was 
widened to an alarming extent. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

General Dissatisfaction at the Edict of Augsburg. 

While the late edict had given dangerous dissatisfaction to 
the Protestant party, the pope himself was ill satisfied with 
the part which the emperor had taken in the transaction. 
As far as the threats against the Lutheran party were con- 
cerned, the pontiff was perfectly contented ; but he com- 
plained bitterly that the emperor had taken upon himself 
the arbitration and decision of religious questions, instead of 
referring to a papal decree. Furthermore, he felt vexed that 
certain points connected with matters of faith should have 

d In an apology presented to the emperor on the 22nd of September, 
which he refused to receive. — Mosheim, p. 141. 

E 2 



52 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



been agreed upon, and certain ceremonies abolished, without 
himself, or even his legate, being consulted on the subject. 
But the saddest grievance of all was, that the emperor 
should have not only promised the council, but fixed a defi- 
nite time for its convocation, thereby interfering with the 
prerogative which the pope claimed for himself, and con- 
ceding only a second-rate authority to the papal see. Find- 
ing, however, that opposition was useless, he attempted to 
take credit to himself for desiring a council to be held, in 
order to conceal the vexation which this blow to his preten- 
sions had aroused. e 

In fact, the convocation of the Council of Trent grew out 
of Protestant opposition, and, so far from being an arbitrary 
act of the so-called head of the Church, it was rather forced 
upon him f by stress of circumstances. As far at least as 
Clement was concerned, the desire of reforming abuses was 
far from being the motive of calling it together, and the con- 
scientiousness of the emperor becomes but doubtful, if we 
consider his bigoted persistance in the tenets of the edict of 
Worms, and his cool and independent treatment of the pon- 
tiff throughout. Perhaps it was rather a tentative measure 
on both sides, each party trusting to events that might arise, 
rather than clearly discerning any definite plan of action. 

e Sarpi, p. 44, sq. 

f On the various evasions made by the respective pontiffs in reference 
to the convocation of this council, see the important notes of Heidigger, 
p. 14, sqq. in " Concilii Tridentini Anatome Historico-Theologica," 
Tiguri, mdclxxii. The author of " Considerations on the Council of 
Trent " (the title says by E. H.), 4to. London, mdclxxxvii., has the 
following remarks : " Called then this council was by the pope, but not 
without the consent of the emperor, and the most of Christian princes ; 
nay (if we may believe Soave), not without Jieir great solicitation and 
importunity, necessitating him to call it against his own inclinations ; 
as if he much dreaded some effect thereof prejudicial to his present 
greatness. Especially for the latter part of it, held under Pius, and con- 
firming all the rest that had gone before, Soave saith, ' that the actions 
of this council were then in a greater expectation than in the former 
times, in regard all princes had in demanding it, and sent ambassadors 
to it ; and also, that the number of prelates then assembled were four 
times as many as before.' Called, also, by him it was, but after the 
Protestant princes had declared a great necessity thereof ; and after 
that both Luther himself and his followers had often, from the justice 
of the present church governors, appealed to it." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



53 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Protestant ' League at Smalcald. 

On the 22nd of December, 1530, the elector and his asso- 
ciates assembled at Smalcald, and a provisional treaty for 
their mutual defence was drawn up, and formally signed 
Jan. 4th, 1531. In this treaty a portion of the Zwinglian 
party were included, desjrite the objections of Luther. In 
fact, Luther seems hitherto to have hung back from the idea 
of anything like a warlike confederacy in the cause of reli- 
gion ; but now, whether tempted by the probability of its 
success,? or really persuaded by the advice of the jurists, 11 he 
lent hearty encouragement to the scheme, both by writing 
and preaching. 

The confederate princes next sent copies of an apology for 
the conduct they had pursued (with the view of counteracting 
the attacks made upon them by the pontiff 1 ) to the kings 
of England, Denmark, and France, entreating their support. 
The answers were favourable and courteous, but indennite 
and evasive, promising nothing in the shape of active assist- 
ance. 

Things were beginning to assume a threatening aspect, 
when, by the intervention of the electors of Mainz and the 

S Waterworth, p. liii. says : "To this step they were forcibly impelled 
by the writings of Luther, who, whilst his party was too weak for suc- 
cessful opposition, had obtained the credit and merit of preaching up 
the duty of obeying, and the sinfulness of resisting by force of arms, the 
decrees of the civil authorities ; but now that there was some chance of 
success, under the flimsy pretext of yielding to the jurists, he pro- 
claimed a contrary doctrine, and by sermons and writings urged his 
followers to resistance." 

h They informed him that the constitution of the empire allowed the 
states to combine together, and probably also to declare war against 
the emperor ; for by virtue of the compact between the emperor and 
the states, the emperor engaged not to infringe upon the laws of the 
empire, and the rights and liberties of the Germanic Church. This 
compact the emperor had violated ; and therefore the states had a right 
to combine together against him. Luther replied that he had not been 
aware of this, and that if it was so, he had no objections to make, for 
the Gospel was not opposed to civil government ; yet he could not 
approve of an offensive war." — Schlegel, in Soames's Mosheim, 
p. 143. 

1 tSarpi, p. 45. 



54 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Palatinate, a treaty was agreed upon between the emperor 
and the Protestant party. In a letter to the pope, Charles 
urged that every other means had been tried without success, 
and that the Turk was threatening hourly. He therefore 
called upon him to hold a council under such regulations as 
that the Protestants might be able and willing to attend 
thereat. The pontiff perceived that it was of no use to re- 
fuse, but resolved to grant the matter in such a way as he 
well knew would not be accepted^ Accordingly, he named 
Bologna, Parma, or Piacenza, as fit places for the holding of 
such a council, asserting that his respect either for Italy or 
the papal see would not allow of his convening it in Germany, 
and adding many remarks still calculated to depreciate the 
value or expediency of the measure, k and to limit the liberty 
of speech, which alone could render it of any avail to the 
parties whom it most intimately concerned. 

CHAPTEE XXIX. 

Terms of Peace between the Emperor and the Protestants. 

On the 23rd of July, 1532, peace was formally declared be- 
tween the emperor and the Protestants, until a general, free, 
and Christian council should be held ; and under conditions 
that no war should be undertaken, and no one made prisoner, 
or deprived of property, for religion's sake, and that the 
princes and cities of Germany should render assistance to the 
utmost of their power against the Turk. Thus the Lutheran 
party were removed from fear, and gained an advantage, 
which they were careful to improve. Whatever might be 
the feelings of the Pomish party, the policy of Charles's con- 
duct can hardly be questioned. He preferred waiving a few 
unsettled differences, and making common cause against a 
common enemy, to opposing a foreign foe with the chance of 
leaving a domestic enemy behind, whom his own intolerance 
had irritated. He had all along sacrificed the pope to cir- 
cumstances, and the pope had found him an useful but un- 
certain ally. Each feared an open rupture, and each knew 
the value of the other's friendship too well to trust ifc. Each 
had repeatedly broken his word, and circumstances alone 

j Sarpi, p. 47 ; Heidigger, L c. p. 15. 
k See Pallav. iii. 5. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



55 



rendered the faithless pair necessary to each other. The 
connection of Charles and Clement was a strange coalition, in 
which each sought to deceive the other, although both advo- 
cating one end. Too selfish to concede any personal dignity 
or advantage, each laboured to accomplish his end at the 
expense of the other, and to lay the onus of unpopularity, or 
the contempt attendant upon inconsistency, upon the shoul- 
ders of his neighbour. The whole story is a splendid illus- 
tration of human selfishness, even where similarity of motives 
would lead us to expect unanimity. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Meeting of Chaises and the Pontiff. 

However, when Solyman had retired from Austria, Charles 
set out to Italy, and had a personal interview with the 
pontiff. Although neither party could feel satisfied with the 
other, a kiud of treaty was renewed between them. Charles 
urged the convocation of a council to remedy the ills of 
Germany; at the same time suggesting that no such assembly 
could answer any purpose, except the Protestants were repre- 
sented therein. The pontiff, still wishing to evade the matter, 
agreed to it on condition that some place within Italy should 
be chosen for the holding of the council, and that none 
should vote in it except those who were legally empowered, 
according to the ecclesiastical law. Charles, willing to obey 
the pontiff, but knowing that these terms would not be 
acceptable to the Protestants, proposed that the pope 
should send his nuncio, while he himself sent his legate 
into Germany, to discover some means of meeting the exist- 
ing difficulties, promising that his legate should do all things 
according to the will and pleasure of the nuncio. The 
pontiff, although ill pleased with the project, consented, 
calculating upon an alliance with the king of France, through 
the medium of his niece (who was now marriageable), as the 
best means of restraining the progress of the dangerous 
demand for a council. 1 

1 " Francis I. had often already proposed to Clement an alliance to be 
cemented by ties of blood, which the latter had always declined. In 
his present need, the pope himself recurred to this. It is expressly- 
affirmed, that the special ground on which Clement again lent an ear to 



56 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



In pursuance of this resolution, the pontiff, on the 20th of 
February, 1533, despatched two nuncios ; one, his private 
secretary, Ugo Rangone, bishop of Bhegium, to the German 
princes ; the other, Ubaldo Ubaldini, to the kings of 
France and England. The purport of their message was 
that the council should be free and general, such as their 
ancestors had been wont to celebrate ; that they should pledge 
themselves to abide by its decrees \ and, if unable to be 
present, they should certify to that effect by deputies, while 
no changes should take place in matters until the council was 
held. As to the place, the nuncio was directed to give the Ger- 
mans choice of Piacenza, Bologna, or Mantua. But if any one 
of the princes should decline coming to the council, or send- 
ing deputies, or should refuse to obey the decrees of the 
council, it would be the duty of the other princes to consult 
the interest of the Church. In conclusion, it was stated, 
that if the Germans were willing to agree to this proposal, 
the council should be indicted within the space of six months, 
a further delay of a twelvemonth being granted to allow of 
the necessary preparations for the journey. 

At the request of the emperor, a meeting of the Pro- 
testants took place at Smalcald, for the purpose of considering 
what answer should be given to these conditions. Their 
reply teemed with indignation against the abuses of the 
Homish church, and they demanded a council, in which, not 
the opinion of the pontiff, nor the dogmas of the schoolmen, 
but the written word of God should be the standard by 
which their creed should be judged. In strong terms they 
avowed their belief, that as long as the council was presided 
over by the pope, as supreme head of the Church, its freedom 
would be a mere matter of words, especially as the manner 
of holding councils, unlike that observed in the earlier ages 
of the Church, had shown a tendency to substitute human 
traditions instead of the Scriptures. 111 

the king of France was the demand made for a council." — Ranke. p.. 33,. 
on the authority of Soriano. 
m See Sarpi, p. 51, sq. 



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57 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Unpvosperous Conclusion of Clement VII. 's Reign. 

Meanwhile, the proposed alliance with the king of France 
had been brought to a successful issue in his interview with 
that monarch at Marseilles, and the crafty pontiff kept 
inventing excuses, to account for the delay in holding the 
council. In fact, the king of France seems to have persuaded 
the pope that he had sufficient interest with the Protestant 
princes to prevent their forwarding the much-dreaded coun- 
cil. But it was in vain that Francis argued with the land- 
grave of Hesse ; he could not even persuade him to consent 
to its being held in Italy. Francis proposed Genoa to the 
pontiff as a place likely to content all parties, but Clement 
tacitly negatived the suggestion as .absurd. 

The restoration of the duke of Wiirtemberg to his here- 
ditary rights, by the joint aid of Francis and the elector of 
Hesse, and the peace concluded at Kadan, were events which 
had a strong tendency to increase the strength of the 
Protestant cause. "I know not," says one of the best 
reviewers of these times, 11 " that any other single occurrence 
ever operated so decisively as this enterprise of Philip of 
Hesse's, for the preponderance of the Protestant name in 
Germany. That direction to the imperial chamber involves 
a judicial security for the new party of extraordinary impor- 
tance. Nor were its effects long delayed. We may, I think, 
regard the peace of Kadan as the second grand epoch of the 
rise of a Protestant power in Germany. After it had for a 
long period made a feeble progress, it began anew to spread 
in the most triumphant manner. Wiirtemberg, which had 
been taken, was reformed forthwith. The German provinces 
of Denmark, Pomerania, the March of Brandenburg, the 
second branch of Saxony, one branch of Brunswick, and the 
Palatinate, followed shortly after. Within a few years, the 
reformation of the Church spread over the whole of lower 
Germany, and obtained firm and permanent footing in upper 
Germany. 

" And Pope Clement had been privy to an enterprise which 



n Ranke, p. 35. 



58 



THE HISTOBY OF THE 



led to tliis result, which so immeasurably augmented the 
desertion from the Church's ranks — nay, he had perhaps 
approved of it." 

Nor was this the only vexation that harassed the last 
days of Clement VII. The contempt of the papal power 
had spread to England ; and Henry VIII. , once the "defender 
of the faith," had openly condemned the doctrine of allegiance 
to the See of Rome throughout his dominions ; and he who 
had once befriended the pope when beleaguered in the 
castle of St. Angelo, had followed up a continued series of 
attacks upon the court of Rome by a decisive blow, from the 
consequences of which Rome has never recovered. 

Into the history of Henry VIII. , his divorce, and his 
subsequent outbreak against Rome, I shall not enter, as the 
subject has been discussed by so many well-known writers, 
and I am unwilling merely to offer a weak dilution of what 
is accessible to all in a more complete and satisfactory form. 
But there is little doubt that this and other vexations, coupled 
with family dissensions, and the pressing urgency for a 
general council, with which the emperor continued to ply 
the pontiff, conspired to wear out a frame already exhausted 
by long sickness and anxiety. 

Clement VII. died without the satisfactory reflection 
that the papal credit had " lasted his time," and without the 
reputation of having acted wisely in behalf of its preservation. 
Clinging doggedly to the temporal interests of the Romish 
church, oscillating between political cabals and religious 
dogmatism, ever relying on hoped-for probabilities rather 
than on inferences drawn from previous experience — or, with 
a Whig-like policy, shunning active measures in the hope of 
something arising that might dispense with the necessity for 
doing anything — this pontiff, the victim of misfortunes, which 
he had neither tact to oppose, nor resignation to yield to, 
closed a life of few vices,P but equally unmarked by the 
development of better traits, with the peevish and embittered 
reflections ever attendant upon disappointed cunning, and 
the consciousness that life has been a purposeless mistake. 

Kanke, p. 35-6, note from Soriano. The remarks of Archbishop 
Bramhall (Works, v. i. p. 117) on the antipapal enactments of Henry VIII. 
are useful. 

p Simony, however, was among the number. — See Ranke, p. 32. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



59 



His ambition had reared an ideal edifice of papal greatness ; 
his sad experience had beheld the real ancestral one, which 
he had sought to exalt, gradually tottering, and, in its fast 
seceding tenants, bearing witness to his own misfortune and 
inefficiency. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 
Paul III. succeeds to the Papal Throne. Vergerius sent into Germany. 

Alexander Farnese, the dean of the Sacred College, who 
had been recommended by the deceased pontiff as his suc- 
cessor, was unanimously chosen pope, under the name of 
Paul III. Born in 1468, he was tutored in the brilliant 
school of Pomponius Lsetus, at Pome, as well as in the garden 
of Lorenzo Medici, at Florence. Deeply imbued with the 
taste for elegant literature and refined pursuits, to the che- 
rishing of which those times were so favourable, he did not^ 
however, escape the contagion of its vices. <i But these were 
not sufficient to be a hinderance to preferment in those days, 
and he found his way to the dignity of a cardinal com- 
paratively early in life. During this period, he laid the 
foundation of the Farnese palace, still the admiration of 
tourists, and built a delightful villa on his hereditary estate 
at Bolsena, to which Leo X. used sometimes to resort. 

But he had ever kept in mind the papal dignity as the 
ultimate object of his ambition; and his favourable intentions 
to the convocation of a general council, although springing 
from a conviction of its necessity, rather than from real 
interest in the cause, 1 ' probably contributed to further his 
election. s Although events, hereafter to be detailed, con- 
tributed to hinder the prompt execution of this design, he 
nevertheless, in the first consistory, held on the 13th of 
November, 1534,* not only avowed himself favourable to the 

i " He acknowledged a natural son and daughter ; but, for all that, 
he was advanced to the rank of cardinal in rather early life ; for in those 
days little offence was taken at such matters." — Ranke, book iii. p. 62. 
The statements of Heidigger, I. c. p. 20, place him in a still more un- 
amiable light, perhaps with some tincture of exaggeration. 

r . Ranke, book iii. p. 62. 

s Waterworth, p. lviii. Heidigger, however (p. 16), shows that Paul 
partook, to no small extent, of the vacillation of his predecessor in this 
Tespect. 

1 Pallav. iii. 17. He had also mentioned the matter, with some 



60 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



convocation of a council, but also suggested that the cardinals 
should begin the work of reform themselves. u 

In the January of the following year, he was still more 
urgent, and sent for Vergerius, who had been confidentially 
employed by the last pontiff/* to sound the dispositions of the 
German princes as to the place and manner of holding the 
council, and to use every appliance of flattery or kindness to 
win over Luther. 

Vergerius conversed first with Ferdinand, and then with 
the rest of the German princes, proposing Mantua as a fit 
and convenient place for the celebration of a council, and 
pointing out the difficulties which would result if it were 
held in Germany, where the madness of the Anabaptists 
and Sacramentarians was raging with a violence, calculated 
to do serious mischief to the whole cause of reform. George 
of Brandenburg, however, was the only one of the Protestant 
princes who was satisfied with Mantua as a locality for the 
meeting. The Catholic princes were unanimous in its 
favour. 

CHAPTEK XXXIII. 

Meeting of Vergerius and Luther. 

On his road through the dominions of the elector of 
Saxony, Vergerius experienced the kindest and most hospita- 
ble treatment from that prince, being waited upon by him at 
his own table. Luther was introduced to the nuncio, whose 
letters prove that he formed a by no means favourable opinion 
of the reformers talents or disposition.^' After various 
strictures on Luther's manners, he concludes, by saying, " to 
give my opinion from his countenance, habit, gestures, words, 

apparent earnestness, in a meeting of cardinal held before bis inaugura- 
tion. — Sarpi, p. 56. 

u Nevertheless, he rather inconsistently promoted two of his nephews 
to the cardinalate at the respective ages of fourteen and sixteen years. 
Pallavicino's defence of the pontiff's nepotism is well met by Courayer, 
p. 136, sq. About the same time he promoted Fisher, bishop of Ro- 
chester, who had been imprisoned by Henry VIII., to the same dignity 
— a dignity which perhaps conduced not a little to his untimely end. 
Sarpi, p. 57. 

v See Sarpi, p. 52. 

w See the extracts in Pallav. iii. 18, p. 330. 



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61 



whether he be a man of talent or no, he is arrogance, malig- 
nity, and imprudence itself" x 

Although Vergerius behaved with the most polite urbanity 
and inoffensiveness, the German princes were ill-satisfied 
with the place named for the council, or with the avoidance 
of mentioning the plan to be pursued in holding it, 
plainly foreseeing, that the whole matter would still be left 
in the power of the pontiff — a state of things totally at 
variance with their determined disavowal of the papal supre- 
macy. They were strengthened in their opposition by the 
legates of the kings of England and France. In fact, the 
new pope was in no small difficulty between " the urgent 
necessity of a reform, and the undesirable circumscription 
with which it threatened the papal power." y 

CHAPTEE XXXIY. 

New Protest of Smalcald, 

The Protestant princes assembled at Smalcald continued 
vehemently opposed to the holding of the council at Mantua, 
as well as to the pope holding it, or presiding therein. In this 
opposition they were confirmed by the ambassadors sent by 
the kings of France and England, the former of whom was 
calculating the probable success of a war in Italy, while the 
latter, having by his marriage cast off all allegiance to Pome, 
was desirous of strengthening the cause of her opponents. 

Early in the year 1536, Yergerius returned to the pontiff, 
with the news of his indifferent success, and of the state of 
parties in Germany. The emperor was then at Pome, 
having returned from a recent expedition. After some 
lengthened discussions in private, the pope proposed, in a 
consistory held on the 8th of April, 1536, x that a council 

x " Et a dime presto il mio parere tratto della faccia, dalF abito, dai 
gesti, e dalle parole, b sia spiritato, 6 nb, egli a 1' arroganza istessa, la 
malignita, e 1' imprudenza." Father Paul's account is, on the whole, 
more probable and coherent than Pallavicino's (cf, Courayer, p. 138, 
sqq.), although it is likely that Luther was betrayed into his too frequent 
violence of temper. The true narrative probably lies between those of 
the two historians. y Ranke, p. 63. 

2 So Pallav. iii. 19, p. 334. Sarpi appears to be inaccurate in some 
of his dates. 



62 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



should straightway be convened at Mantua. Seven of the 
cardinals, assisted by Aleander and Vergerius, a being in- 
trusted with the arrangement of preliminaries, the latter 
bishop was of opinion, that the council should not be defi- 
nitely fixed at Mantua until they had first received the 
approbation of the German princes, still hoping that such a 
show of respect might facilitate the execution of the design, 
and that in the bull convoking the council, the clause, u ac- 
cording to the form of preceding councils," should be omitted, 
as it would only serve to increase the complaints of their 
adversaries, and it had been omitted in the bulls convoking 
the previous councils of Constance and Basle. The latter, 
but not the first, part of his advice was followed, as they 
now despaired of obtaining the consent of the Protestants to 
a council assembled according to the previous customs of the 
Church. Moreover, Mantua being indirectly under the 
power of the emperor, the Germans could not reasonably 
object to it. b 

The Protestant princes, however, renewed their opposition 
in another meeting held at Smalcald, and caused a new sum- 
mary of their faith to be drawn up by Luther, under the 
title of the " Articles of Smalcald," in which they assumed a 

a Who had been rewarded for his services by receiving the bishopric 
of Capo dTstria. — Sarpi, p. 60. See Courayer, p. 144. 
b Pallav. p. 335. 

c "The Articles of Smalcald were drawn up by Luther in his own 
acrimonious style. The Augsburg Confession was intended to soften 
prejudice against the Lutherans, and to conciliate the good-will of the 
Roman Catholics. Of course, the gentle Melancthon was employed to 
write it. The Articles of Smalcald, on the contrary, were a preparative 
for a campaign against an enemy with whom no compromise was deemed 
possible, and in which victory or death was the only altera ative. Of 
course, all delicacy towards the Catholics was dispensed with, and 
Luther's fiery style was chosen, and allowed full scope. In words, the 
Articles flatly contradict the Confession, in some instances, though in 
sense they remain the same. Thus the Confession (article xxiv.) says : 
' We are unjustly charged with having abolished the mass. For it is 
manifest that, without boasting, we may say, the mass is observed by us 
with greater devotion and earnestness than by our opposers.' But in 
the Articles of Smalcald (part ii. art. ii.), it is said ' that the popish mass 
is the greatest and most horrid abomination, as militating directly and 
violently against these articles • and yet it has become the chief and 
most splendid of all the popish idolatries.' In the Confession, they 
applied the name of the mass to the Lutheran form of the Eucharist. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



63 



tone of more violent opposition than had been adopted in 
the Confession of Augsburg. Nor was Henry VIII. of Eng- 
land less earnest in his protestations against the power he 
had cast off; declaring that the right to summon councils 
appertained to princes, and that the pope's claim was a 
usurpation. 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Seat of the Council transferred to Vicenza. 

But an untoward event was destined to shift the projected 
council from its intended place of assemblage. Frederick, 
the prince of Mantua, who had granted the use of that city 
under a firm belief that it would never be required,* 1 no 
sooner found that the council was indicted for the 23rd of 
May, 1536, than he began to tremble, for the safety of his city, 
and sent to request the pontiff to furnish pay for a guard of 
soldiers during the time of the council. The pope replied 
that the assembly would be composed of ecclesiastics and 
literary men, not of armed soldiers, and that such a company 
might be very well kept in order by a single magistrate, 

But in these articles they confine that term to its proper import, the 
ordinary public service among the Catholics. The Articles of Smalcald 
cover twenty-eight folio pages, and are preceded by a preface, and fol- 
lowed by a treatise on the power and supremacy of the pope. The first 
part contains four precise articles, respecting God, the Trinity, and the 
incarnation, passion, and ascension of Christ, in accordance with the 
Apostles' and Athanasian creeds. On these articles the Protestants 
proposed to agree altogether with the Papists. The second part also 
contains four articles of fundamental importance, in which the Pro- 
testants and Papists are declared to be totally and irreconcilably at 
variance. They relate to the nature and grounds of justification, the 
mass and saint-worship, ecclesiastical and monkish establishments, and 
the claims of the pope. The third part contains fifteen articles, which 
the Protestants considered as relating to very important subjects, but 
on which the Papists laid little stress. The subjects are sin, the law, 
repentance, the Gospel, baptism, the sacrament of the altar, the keys (or 
spiritual power), confession, excommunication, ordination, celibacy of the 
clergy, good works, monastic vows, and human satisfaction for sin. 
When the Protestants subscribed these articles, Melancthon annexed a 
reservation to his signature, purporting that he could admit of &pope, 
provided he would allow the Gospel to be preached in its purity, and. 
would give up his pretensions to a divine right to rule, and would found 
his claims wholly on expediency and human compact." — Soames on 
Mosheim, vol. iii. p. 146, note. 
d Sarpi, p. 63. 



64 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



whom lie would himself appoint to take cognizance of 
offences. Furthermore, he urged that the presence of an 
armed force would cause universal suspicion, and would be 
little suited to the peaceable appearance which the seat of 
a council should present. Again, if an armed force really 
were necessary, it would be most unjust that it should be 
under the control of any one but the council, or its head, the 
pope. 

Frederick gave a flat denial to the latter part of the pon- 
tiff's demand, and persisted in requesting sustinence for an 
adequate guard, to be under his own control. Paul III. 
finding no arguments avail, and being unwilling to accede to 
terms so disadvantageous, and involving so evident a com- 
promise of papal dignity/ promulgated another bull, in 
which, throwing the blame of delay on the duke of Mantua, 
Tie prorogued the council until the month of November, but 
without having settled upon any new place for the holding 
thereof f 

It is probable that Frederick's fears had the emperor, 
rather than the pontiff, for their object ; but, however this 
might be, it was an ill omen at starting — a stumbling on 
the threshold that was distinctly significant of subsequent 
failure. The fact was, the blow struck by the denial of the 
papal supremacy was too decided — the selfishness of princes 
too much interested in pursuing the advantage they had 
already gained — and the compact which held the pope and 
his adherents too temporalizing in its character, to leave 
room to hope for a restoration of matters on their old footing. 
Many princes doubtless hung back, and avoided taking any 
decided step in one direction or the other, until they saw 
more clearly the progress of the reform party : numbers of 
men, whose practical indifference was at variance with their 

e In a subsequent bull he says : " A_t the very first, contrary to all 
our hope and expectation, the city of Mantua was refused us, unless we 
would submit to certain conditions, which we have described in other 
letters of ours, utterly alien from the institutes of our ancestors, the 
state of the times, our own dignity and liberty that of this holy see, 
-and of the ecclesiastical name." — Decrees and Canons, p. 3 of my 
edition. 

f Onuphrius says : " Sed mox ducis, qui imperatoris vires timebat, 
rogatu locum mutavit." — Apud Courayer, p. 151, whose note well 
deserves attention. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



65 



real feelings, held back, and watched the gradual tottering 
of the old religion, without making one substantial effort to 
sustain it, yet without even giving the push of a finger to 
promote its downfall. 

"Various difficulties, as the pope himself acknowledges, 
interfered to prevent the immediate convocation of the 
council; but at length Paul, having obtained permission 
from the Venetian republic to assemble,? indicted a council 
to be held at Vicenza on the 1st of May, of the ensuing year 
1538, designating as his legates Lorenzo Campeggio, who 
had occupied the same post in Germany under Clement "VII., 
Jacopo Simonetta, and Hieronymo Aleandro, who had been 
lately created cardinal. 11 But Ferdinand, king of the Romans, 
had previously recommended the city of Trent, as being less 
likely to displease the German Protestant princes. 1 Henry 
VIII. showed the same hostility to a convocation at Vicenza, 
that he had previously displayed towards the whole scheme, j 

But Paul did not suffer matters to stand still. Despite 
the adverse circumstance which beset him on all sides, and 
notwithstanding a natural leaning to superstition, k which 

& I do Hot wish to repeat the history of the difficulties which inter- 
fered with the settlement of a place for the council, as they are fully 
detailed in the bull for the indiction of the Council of Trent, given in 
" Decrees and Canons," p. 3, sqq. of my edition. 

h Sarpi, p. 66. 

* "Accordingly, as we no longer had the city of Vicenza, and were 
desirous in our own choice of a new place for holding the council, to 
have regard both to the common welfare of Christians, and also to the 
troubles of the German nation ; and seeing, upon several places being 
proposed, that they wished for the city of Trent, we — although we 
deemed that everything might be transacted more conveniently in Italy 
— nevertheless yielded up our will with paternal charity to their de- 
mands. Accordingly, we have chosen the city of Trent as that wherein 
an oecumenical council should be held on the ensuing calends of No- 
vember ; fixing upon that place as a suitable one whereat the bishops 
and prelates can assemble very easily indeed from Germany, and from 
the other nations bordering on Germany, and without difficulty from 
France, Spain, and the other remoter provinces." — Bull of Pope 
Paul III. " Decrees and Canons." p. 8, sq. 

j See Sarpi, p. 64, sq. ; Heidigger, I. c. p. 20. 

k Cf. Eanke, p. 64, who observes : " It was not inconsistent with the 
habits of a mind so constituted, of such far and searching forethought, 
such a tending to look warily around in every direction, and to ponder 
its purposes in secret, that it should have taken into the scope of its 
reflections powers above, as well as upon the earth. The influence of 

F 



66 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the many anxieties of his position would tend to foster, his 
activity was unceasing. Not only did he despatch legates to 
Yicenza to make preparations for the council, thereby 
assming the world of the reality of his intentions, but he 
instituted a commission to inquire into the abuses of the 
Romish church, probably with a view of being better enabled 
to meet objections, or to make concessions which might 
produce a feeling of content, while the framework and main 
structure of the papal power remained untouched. Four 
cardinals and five bishops, four of whom were subsequently 
raised to the cardinalate, formed the board of inquiry, and 
a list of corrupt practices, chiefly connected with the covet- 
ousness and vanity of the Romish church, were drawn up. 
The cardinals could not, however, come to an agreement on 
the subject, and the matter shared the fate of previous 
attempts of a similar character. 1 

A more delicate task remained for the pontiff, namely, the 
reconciliation of the emperor and the king of France, who 
had renewed hostilities, and whose mutual good- will was of 
serious consequence to the success of the council. Having 
previously despatched nuncios to solicit the attendance of 
the contending monarchs, Paul hastened to meet them at 
Nice, solely, as he professed, with the view of peace-making,, 
but, as others supposed, with a view to personal interests 111 
likewise. His success was not complete, but, during a 
month's stay at Nice, his unremitting attention and earnest- 

the constellations over the results of human actions was little ques- 
tioned in those days. Paul III. held no important sitting of the con- 
sistory, nor made any journey without having first consulted the stars 
on the choice of the fitting days. An alliance with France was broken 
off" merely because there was no conformity between the nativities of 
the king and the pope. This pope, it is plain, felt himself in the midst 
of a thousand conflicting agencies, not only of the powers of the earth 
below, but of the configuration of the stars above ; his plan was to give 
due attention alike to the one class and to the other, to mitigate their 
unpropitious influences, turn their favours to account, and dexterously 
to steer home his bark between the rocks that threatened him on every 
side." 1 Sarpi, p. 65, sq. 

m (i Ad Ducatum Mediolanensem faniilise suae comparandum." The 
advantages which accrued to this pope from the congress at Nice are 
well stated and reviewed by Eanke, p. 64, sq. Courayer, p. 156, 
quotes authorities which seem to place Sarpi's statements beyond the 
reach of doubt. 



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67 



ness persuaded theni to agree to a truce for ten years, which 
accident subsequently ripened into a friendly intercourse. 11 

While the pontiff was at Nice, he received news that as 
yet, when there wanted but five days to the opening of the 
council, not a single bishop had arrived at Yicenza. Here- 
upon he determined to accede to the wish of the two 
princes, and prorogue the council till the Easter following. 
In this resolution he was influenced by the promise of the 
princes to send ambassadors to Rome, in order to treat of 
matters necessary for the establishment of peace, they 
urging, that, " peace once established, the council itself 
would then be much more useful and salutary to the 
Christian commonwealth." Ferdinand, king of the Romans, 
expressed the same opinion. 

CHAPTER XXXYI. 

Fwrther Suspension of the Council. 

And now, when matters seemed favourable, and when the 
pontiff had reason to believe that fortune was disposed to 
crown his exertions with success, he was again doomed to 
experience the instability of his best ally and supporter. 
Charles V., who had been the most urgent promoter of the 
council, now began to dread the growing power of the 
Lutherans, and, foreseeing that the whole spirit of its design 
was opposed to their wishes, and that hostility would only 
be increased by the partial measures taken by the Catholic 
party, he began to urge the propriety of delaying the council, 
at the same time entreating the pope to make another 
attempt to conciliate the minds of the Germans by sending 
Aleandro to them as his legate. Finding that the second 
meeting convened at Yicenza had been as ill attended as the 
first, the pontiff, tired of using the word "prorogue," which had 

n Bull of Pope Paul apud "Decrees and Canons," p. 6, of my edition. 
Eanke, p. 64, remarks : "The Venetian ambassador, who was present, 
cannot find words sufficiently to extol the zeal and patience exhibited 
on that occasion by the pope. It was only by means of the utmost 
assiduity, and but at the last moment, when he was already threatening 
to depart, that he at last succeeded in bringing about a truce. He effected 
a good understanding between the two sovereigns, which very soon 
afterwards seemed to pass into something like friendship." 

° L. c. p. 7. 

F 2 



68 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



been so often repeated in vain, determined to suspend the 
holding of the council until his own pleasure.P Accordingly, 
letters announcing its suspension were despatched to the 
different princes on the 10th of June, 1539. The position 
of the pontiff was doubtless a painful one. Claiming the 
authority to indict a council, and yet lacking the power to 
enforce attendance thereat — egged on and harassed to pro- 
mote a measure in which he had little personal sympathy, 
and at the same time deserted by those who* had literally 
worried him into such conduct, immediately any difficulties 
appeared to threaten its success — Pope Paul III. was now a 
painful example of the incapability of great personal talents 
to contend with the growing influence of public opinion, where 
men's spiritual liberties and interests are concerned ; and 
in the supine negligence of the Pomish clergy, in the empty 
benches of the convocation at Vicenza, we can perceive how 
forced and artificial, how little redolent of a sincere and 
Catholic spirit of reform, were the whole of the early trans- 
actions of this council. It remains for us yet to see whether, 
unpromising as was its commencement, its subsequent 
proceedings involved any serious and satisfactory changes, 
whether its supporters had learnt the lesson which the neg- 
ligence of their own adherents, not less than the persevering 
opposition of the Protestant party, might have taught them. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Various Attempts to effect a Reconciliation. 

About the beginning of the year 1539, a convention was 
held at Frankfort, where, by consent of the emperors legate, 
the proceedings were adjourned, after a sharp dispute, till 
the 1st of August, at Nuremberg, with the view of holding 
a friendly and tranquil consultation touching religious sub- 
jects. The Catholic party wished some special deputy to 
have been sent thither by the pope ; but the Protestants 
urging that such a step would be contrary to the very object 
of the meeting, they yielded. 

The pontiff was much annoyed to find that the emperor 
was meddling in matters of religion without consulting the 

p Decrees and Canons, I. c. p. 7 ; cf. Waterworth, ch. xii. p. lxv. sq. 



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69 



papal authority, and looked upon the conventions in Germany 
as an insult to the credit of the projected council. He 
accordingly despatched Giovanni Ricci, afterwards bishop of 
Montepulcino,^ to persuade the emperor to contravene the 
decrees of that assembly. 1 But the reply of the emperor 
was by no means satisfactory ; and it was not easy to discern 
whether he intended to favour the approaching meeting at 
Nuremberg, or not. The sedition of the Gantois, who had 
been excited to revolt by the oppressive taxation imposed 
to meet the expenses of the emperor's wars, diverted his 
attention from the affairs of Germany, and the year 1539 
passed away without any movement in favour of Catholicism 
being brought to an issue. 

In the following year, while the emperor was in Belgium, 
endeavouring to quiet the seditions s which had arisen, Ferdi- 
nand came thither from Austria, andthe attention of both princes 
naturally turned to the state of religious dissension, and the best 
means of allaying it. Cardinal Farnese, a youth of scarcely 
twenty years of*age, who had accompanied the emperor from 
Paris, as the pope's legate, set himself strongly against any deli- 
berations on the subject, urging that all the attempts at agree- 
ment with the Protestants, especially at the Augsburg confer- 
ence, had proved a failure ; that, even if a plan of argument 
were agreed upon, it would be of no avail with a set of men who 
changed their opinions daily, followed no certain principles, 
had departed from the very doctrine they had promulgated 
at Augsburg, and were as slippery as eels. He furthermore 
urged, that they had at first wished that the pontificate 
should be amended, but that they now required its destruc- 
tion, the extirpation of the Apostolic See, and the abrogation 
of all apostolic jurisdiction. Again, if they had been so- 
insolent when affairs were tranquil, what would they now 
do, when peace was not yet agreed upon with the king of 
France, and the Turk was threatening Pannonia I s In vehe- 

i He was not admitted to the episcopal office till four years after this, 
under the reign of Pius IV. — Pallav. iv. 9. Sarpi is wrong. 

r Father Paul is again wrong in placing this event before the issuing 
of the bull of suspension. Cf. Courayer, p. 163. On the business of 
the envoy, see Sarpi, p. 68, sq. 

8 Sarpi, p. 59. The whole speech betrays the animated zeal of an 
impetuous youth, which is perhaps the best internal evidence of its 
authenticity. 



70 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ment language he then proceeded to deny the right of private 
assemblies to deliberate on religious subjects, to assert the 
pontifical authority, and to denounce the Protestants as 
greater enemies to Christ than the Turks themselves. In 
conclusion, he demanded that a council should be convoked, 
that it should be begun that very year ; that the disputations 
on religion in the German conventions should be put an end 
to, but that the Catholic alliance should be augmented, and 
peace made with the king of France. These proposals, how- 
ever, were thrown away upon the emperor, who, unknown 
to the young cardinal, determined upon holding a convention 
in some part of Germany, which should be convenient to 
Ferdinand. Farnese departed in disgust, and on his journey 
persuaded the king of France to promulgate a most stringent 
and cruel edict against heretics and Lutherans, which was 
afterwards put in execution throughout his dominions with 
the utmost severity.* 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

The Conventions at Hagenau and Worms. Neiv Meeting convened at 
Ratisbon. 

At the request of Ferdinand, Hagenau was the place 
appointed for the meeting; Contarini and the Catholic party 
wished to revive the Recess which had been agreed upon at the 
Augsburg convention ; but the Protestants, perceiving that 
that form would be ruinous to their present position, required 
a new one. Various proposals on the subject of making re- 
stitution to the Church for what had been wrongfully usurped 
by either party, came to an equally unsatisfactory result ; 
and Ferdinand determined upon another assembly at Worms, 
to be held on the 28th of October, unless the emperor should 
disapprove thereof. It was also agreed, that the pontiff 
should be permitted to send his legates thither, if he wished ; 
but the Protestants denied either to himself or his nuncios 
any authority. The emperor expressed his consent to these 

1 Sarpi, p. 59. Compare Courayer, p. 166, sq. An important pas- 
sage of the bull above quoted, as illustrating the state of affairs de- 
scribed in this chapter, will be found p. 7 of my edition of the " Decrees 
and Canons." 



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71 



arrangements, and despatched Granvel 11 as his legate, accom- 
panied by some other Spanish theologians. A few days 
after Thomas Campeggio, bishop of Feltri, the pope's legate, 
came thither also ; for Paul, as Sarpi well observes/ " foresaw 
that, whatever mischief might accrue to his own concerns 
from a disputation in Germany respecting religious subjects, 
yet, now that all his efforts to prevent it had failed, he 
thought it would be productive of less harm if done with his 
own consent, than without it." A bland and conciliatory speech 
from the nuncio, well calculated to put the Protestants in a 
good humour with the projected scheme of a council, and 
some more indirect influence exerted by Vergerius, w ostensibly 
as the ambassador of the king of France, seemed likely to 
produce some effect. But the emperor, vexed at the slow 
progress made in the convention at "Worms, and harassed 
either by the difficulties represented to him by Granvel, or 
by the fear that a denial of his own power was implicated 
in the refusal of submission to the pontiff, or for other 
reasons, recalled his legate, broke up the meeting just as the 
conference agreed upon between Melancthon and Eck had 
commenced, and transferred it to Ratisbon. 

The convention began about the 5th of April, x 1541, the 
emperor being himself present, and entertaining great expec- 
tations of putting an end to the dissensions which had given 
occasion to its convocation. Upon his suggestion to the pope, 
with a view of putting a determinate end to the disputes, 
without having constant reference to the Pomish see in every 
question of difficulty, the pope had consented to send a 
person intrusted with full power to define such things as he 
should judge conducive to the good of the Church. The 
person chosen by the pontiff to fulfil this important mission, 
was Cardinal Gaspar Contarini, a man of consummate learn- 
ing and probity, whose earnest and conscientious desire for 

11 The 25th of the November following. — Sleidan, xiii. p. 208, apud 
Courayer. 
v p. 72. 

w This is denied by Pallavicino, but asserted by Sleidan. See Cou- 
rayer, p. 169. 

x This is probably the date of the first session. It was called, and 
perhaps opened, on the 1st, or during the latter end of March. See 
€ourayer, page 170, note 12. 



72 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



reformation in the Romish church, or, as Ranke says, for 
" the attempt to found a rational papacy," v made him the 
fittest person to undertake a negotiation so important. If 
the choice of such men as cardinals at the commencement of 
his reign, was a sign of Paul's good taste and appreciation of 
merit, his selection of an envoy in the present instance did 
no less credit to his tact and discrimination. 

7 Ranke's character of Contarini is a masterly piece of biography, 
Compare p. 40, sqq. The following remarks on the subject of reform 
are well calculated to show the spirit in which thi3 enlightened and 
upright man viewed the existing state of the Church: " There are 
extant some short pieces by Gaspar Contarini, in which he waged the 
most vehement war on abuses, especially those abuses which were pro- 
fitable to the curia. The custom of compositions, that is, the taking of 
money even for the bestowal of religious favours, he pronounces simony, 
which may be regarded as a species of heresy. It was taken amiss that 
he inculpated former popes. ' What ! ' he exclaimed, ' shall we concern 
ourselves so much about the fame of three or four popes, and not rather 
amend what is deformed, and win ourselves a good name 1 It would, 
indeed, be a trying task to defend all the acts of all the popes.' He 
attacks the abuse of dispensations most earnestly and effectively. He 
considers it idolatrous to say, as was actually maintained, that the pope 
was bound by no rule but that of his own will in confirming or suspend- 
ing the positive law. It is worth while to hear his remarks on this 
subject. ' The law of Christ,' he says, ' is a law of liberty, and forbids 
such gross servitude, which the Lutherans were perfectly justified in 
likening to the Babylonish captivity. But, furthermore, can that be 
indeed called a government, the rule whereof is the will of a man by 
nature prone to evil, and of innumerable affections ? No ; all true domi- 
nion is a dominion of reason. It has for its end to lead those who are sub- 
ject to it by the right means to their great end, happiness. The authority 
of the pope is likewise a dominion of reason ; God has bestowed it on St. 
Peter and his successors, to guide the flocks confided to them to ever- 
lasting blessedness. A pope must know that they are free men over 
whom he exercises it. He must not command, or forbid, or dispense 
according to his own good pleasure, but in obedience to the rule of 
reason, of God's commands, and of love, a rule that refers everything to 
God, and to the greatest common good. For the positive law is not 
arbitrarily imposed, but in unison with natural rights, the command- 
ments of God, and circumstances only in accordance with the same 
laws and the same things can it be altered. Be it the care of your holi- 
ness,' he says, to Paul III., ' not to depart from this rule ; turn not to 
the impotence of the will which chooses evil, to the servitude which 
ministers to sin. Then wilt thou be mighty, then wilt thou be free, — 
then will the life of the Christian commonwealth be sustained in 
thee.' " 



COUNCIL OF TEENT. 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Discussion at Ratisbon. 

It is difficult to do full justice to the good sense, moderation, 
and equanimity displayed by Contarini in this transaction/ 
but it is most interesting to contrast the really conciliating 
measures pursued by this great man with the harsh and 
rugged policy of his predecessors. Disappointed as he was 
in the result of his exertions, it has still been truly said, 
that " in his person moderate Catholicism had assumed a 
grand position." a 

The pope had been unwilling to bestow the full powers 
which the emperor had wished for, and Contarini was bound 
to oppose any concessions to the Protestants that seemed to 
be attended with danger to the Romish see, and was intrusted 
with a like request to the emperor. But the pope, in his in- 
structions, evinced no desire utterly to exclude negotiations 
with the adverse party. " We must first see," said he, 
66 whether the Protestants, and they who have deserted the 
bosom of the Church, agree with us on first principles, for 
example, the supremacy of this Holy See, as having been 
instituted by God and our Saviour, the sacrament, and 
certain other matters of the holy Church, which have been 
hitherto observed and apj)roved as well by the authority of 
the sacred writings as by the constant observance of the 
universal Church — for by these being forthwith admitted, all 
agreement touching other controversial points must be 
tested." b This vagueness of expression, while it conceded 
nothing that was at variance with the doctrine of papal 
supremacy, at the same time left Contarini a free agent to a 
considerable extent, and perhaps the pontiff may have felt 
some curiosity in finding whether the known talents of his 
emissary might not hit upon some lucky point of agreement, 
which might serve to heal no small part of the ill-feeling 

2 I know not whether Dr. Waterworth's silence is to be attributed to 
his want of sympathy with the temperate desire of reformation shown, 
by this truly great man, or to the brevity of his history. 

a Ranke, p. 45. 

b Instructio data Revmo. Cli. Contareno in Germaniam legato, MS. 
apud Ranke, p. 43, note. 



74 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



which stood in the way of anything like accommodation 
between the contending parties. 

The emperor, anxious to promote peace — especially as the 
Turk had already penetrated into the interior of Germany, 
had made choice of John Gropper, Julius Flug, and John 
Eck to sustain the Catholic side of the dispute, while 
Melancthon, Martin Bucer, and John Pistorius were to 
support the Protestant. Frederick, prince of the Palatinate, 
and Granvel, were to preside over the assembly ; the latter 
of whom proposed a book of articles to be read and con- 
sidered by those present, by way of fiirnishing subject- 
matter for the dispute ; so that what was approved by all 
should be confirmed and established ; what was disapproved, 
corrected ; and what was matter of uncertainty, reconciled as 
far as they were able. Out of the twenty-two articles thus 
propounded, some were approved, others amended by common 
consent ; but they disagreed respecting those on the power 
of the Church, the sacrament of penance, the hierarchy, the 
articles determined by the Church, and likewise on the 
subject of celibacy. 

Contarini had foreseen that the topic of the papal supre- 
macy would be especially disagreeable to the party whom it was 
his object to conciliate ; and he therefore wisely permitted this 
question to be placed last in the list proposed for discussion. 
He himself took a conspicuous part in the debate, and " his 
secretary assures us that nothing was resolved on by the 
Catholic theologians, nor even a single variation proposed, 
until his opinion had been previously consulted." 01 The chief 
difficulty arose on the part of Luther's old antagonist, 
Eck; but even he was brought to an agreement, and the 
delicate and inrportant articles of the state of human nature, 
original sin, redemption, and justification, were agreed to 
unanimously. Contarini agreed to the main doctrine ad- 

c Sarpi, p. 74. These were not, however, by any means, the only 
points on which disagreement was expressed. See Courayer, p. 174, 
who quotes the following from Beaucaire, xxii. note 50 : " Inter collocu- 
tores convenit ; de praecipuis non convenit, nempe de Ecclesia ej usque 
potestate, de corporis et sanguinis Christi sacramento, quam Eucharistiam 
vocamus, de Satisfaction, de Unitate et Ordine sacrorum Ministrorum, 
de Sanctis, de sacra Liturgia quam Missam vocant, de usu integro 
Sacramenti, id est, quod sit unus integer sub una specie, de Coelibatu." 

d Beccatelli, apud Eanke, p. 43. 



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75 



vanced by Luther, that man's justification is through faith 
only, and not through merit, adding, however, that such 
faith must be lively and active — a doctrine which Melancthon e 
claimed as the precise creed of the Protestants. So pleased 
was Bucer, that he declared that in the articles thus admitted 
was contained " everything necessary towards a godly, righ- 
teous, and holy life, in the eyes of God and men," and the 
opposite party seemed equally well satisfied. 

But Contarini was not destined to meet with the success 
which seemed to promise itself. The bishops were opposed 
to the new articles, and wished peremptorily to reject them; 
but the Catholic princes who were anxious for peace, were of 
a different opinion. On the emperor referring it to Contarini, 
he gave an ambiguous reply, expressing a hope, that by the 
blessing of God, the differences which still remained might 
be brought to an agreement, and that the whole affair had 
best be referred to the pontiff, who, by means of a public 
council, or some other proper medium, would shortly deter- 
mine what might seem best suited to the welfare of the 
Christian world, and especially of Germany. f 

But here was the old difficulty at work again ! While 
Francis I. complained of the concessions made at Batisbon, 
the pope felt uneasy at the probability that, if matters were 
referred to a general council, the emperor would claim the 
right of convoking it, and that the very concession of the 
points already advanced would only embolden the Protestant 
party to venture upon greater inroads. Contarini was placed 
in a most awkward position. It seemed as though the 
emperor wished to pledge him to the principles avowed in 

e See his own statement, Ranke, p. 43, note. The following letter of 
Cardinal Pole to his friend Contarini is extremely interesting : " When 
I observed this nnity of sentiment, I experienced a feeling of pleasure 
such as no harmony of tones could have afforded me ; not alone, because 
I foresee the coming of peace and union, but also because these articles 
are the foundations of the Christian faith. They seem, indeed, to treat 
of a variety of matters — of faith, works, and justification : on this 
latter, however, justification, repose all the rest : and I wish you joy, 
and I thank God that the theologians of both parties are agreed thereon. 
We hope that he who has begun so mercifully will also complete what 
he has begun." — Apud Eanke, p. 44. 

f Sarpi, p. 74. The remarks of Ranke, however (p. 43, sqq.), are 
much more important, and their sources more original and authentic. 
They will form the basis of what follows on this subject. 



76 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the articles, while he felt that, in softening the irritation 
attendant on the doctrine of supremacy, he had somewhat 
swerved from the precepts enjoined by his master. While 
his own judgment, or at least his most anxious wishes, had 
led him to hope that the work of conciliation might have 
been more directly his own, he felt himself crippled from 
taking the only measures which could have made it so. 

" The pope soon announced it to his legate as his decided 
will, that he would neither in his public nor his private 
capacity sanction any resolution, in which the Catholic 
opinions were expressed in other words than such as ad- 
mitted of no ambiguity. The formulae in which Contarini 
had thought to reconcile the various opinions as to the 
pope's supremacy, and the power of councils, were uncon- 
ditionally rejected at Rome, and the legate was constrained 
to abide by explanations, that even seemed in contradiction 
with his own previous language." s 

The emperor had wished that both parties would for the 
present abide by the articles to which they had mutually 
assented, and extend toleration to the several opinions in 
which they disagreed, until the matter could be referred to 
a general council. Neither Luther, however, on the one 
side, nor the pope and the cardinals on the other, would 
consent to any such concessions. Finding all attempts in 
vain, the emperor closed the debate on the 27 th of July, 
pledging himself to obtain from the pontiff either a general 
or a provincial council ; and that if he failed to obtain one 
or the other within a given space of time, he would announce 
a national assembly to arrange religious affairs, and would 
take care that a legate should be sent thither by the pope. 

8 Ranke, p. 45, who further remarks : "He was forced to return to 
Italy, to endure the slanders that were spread from Rome over the 
whole country touching his conduct, and the reported concessions he 
had made to the Protestants. He had loftiness of soul to feel still 
more keenly the ill success of designs of such enlarged utility." Cf. 
Sarpi, p. 77, who states that he nevertheless succeeded in satisfying the 
mind of the pontiff, being warmly supported by Cardinal Fregoso. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



77 



CHAPTER XL. 

Meeting of trie Emperor and the Pope at Lueca. 

The emperor and the pontiff met at Lucca towards the end 
of the year 1541, to discuss the matters connected with the 
council, and the war against the Turks. It was agreed that 
the pope should send a nuncio to Spires in the early part 
of the year, to debate respecting both matters, but that in 
the meanwhile the council should be indicted to be hoi den 
at Yicenza, as before. But the Venetian senate, who had 
lately made peace with the Turks, dreaded the discussion in 
their own city of a war with that people, and had some 
misgivings as to the safety of a large influx of strangers. 
Thus was Paul III. thrown into another difficulty, and the 
council again shifted from its intended locality, in a manner 
that fully proved either the apathy of the supporters of the 
Eoman court, or the little confidence they had in the sin- 
cerity of its intentions. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

The Council of Trent indicted at tlie Diet of Spires. 

In the beginning of the following year, the pope sent 
Giovanni Morone to the diet assembled at Spires, at which 
Ferdinand presided in the absence of the emperor. He 
stated that the pontiff, finding all hopes of concord vain, had 
determined to expedite the convocation of a council as soon 
as possible, as he had only delayed it out of complaisance to 
the emperor, with a view of giving opportunity for religious 
agreement. He alleged that the aged years of the pontiff, 
the length of the journey, and the changes of climate, 
rendered it impossible for him to be present, if the council 
were held in Germany, and that the same objection would 
apply to many others. After naming Ferrara, Bologna, or 
Piacenza, as places both suitable and preferred by himself, 
he named Trent as a final concession, 11 a city which, being 
situated in the Tyrol, on the confines of Germany, and sub- 



h See note \ p. 65. 



78 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ject to the king of the Romans, could not be objected to by 
those who were really desirous of terminating the present 
unsatisfactory dissensions. Ferdinand and the Catholic 
members of the diet were satisfied with this proposal, but 
the Protestants rejected both the place and the council pro- 
posed by the pontiff; demanding a legitimate and free 
council, that is, one that should be exempt from the pre- 
scriptions and the authority of the pontiff. 1 

Paul, nevertheless, proceeded to fulfil his pledge, and in a 
consistory held on the 22nd of May, 1542, a bull was drawn 
up, and published, indicting the council for the first of 
November, being the festival of All Saints. k 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Mutual Criminations of the Emperor and Francis I. of France. 

Meanwhile, the bull of the pope, in which the king of 
France was named as equally a friend of the Roman see 
with himself, 1 had given great offence to Charles, especially 
as Francis had just declared war against him, and had 
attacked his dominions in five different places. In bitter 
terms, he urged that while he had been the constant advo- 
cate of a general council, the king of France had availed 
himself of every opportunity to hinder it being put into 
effect, accused the pope of cherishing discord between both, 
by making separate offers of friendship to each through the 
medium of his legates, and declared that if the pontiff had 
any views for the public good, or the convocation of a coun- 
cil, it would be his duty to declare Francis I. an enemy to 
the pontifical see. 

But Francis was not willing to be outdone either in tact or 
treachery; and, in the true spirit of a time-server, he proceeded 
to put in force a most severe edict against the Lutherans. 

1 Moshehm b. iii. p. 150, ed. Soames. 

k See the bull published at the commencement of my edition of the 
<( Decrees and Canons." 

"Our most beloved sons in Christ, Charles ever august, the empe- 
ror of the Eomans, and Francis, the most Christian king, the two main 
supports and defences of the Christian name." — Bull, ibid. p. 4. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



79 



By this bill heavy penalties were denounced against all who 
should be detected keeping books suspected of heretical doc- 
trine, or condemned as such by the Romish church ; who should 
secretly frequent conventicles held in private houses ; who 
should despise or neglect the commands of the Church, refuse 
to acknowledge different kinds of diet on fast days, and use 
any other language for prayer than the Latin. Having 
thus sought to gain favour with the pontiff, he next pro- 
ceeded to retaliate the charges laid against him by the 
emperor, taunting him with the capture and pillage of 
Rome, and with having mocked the pontiff by offering up 
a supplication in Spain for his liberation, while he himself 
was the cause of his detention in custody. He concluded 
by professing entire good-will towards the proposed council, 
and unchanging fidelity towards the Church of Rome, 
alleging his late violent edicts against the Protestants as 
proof of his sincerity. 111 

The pontiff, who probably felt secretly amused at the bad 
faith of those whom he had so recently been the means of 
reconciling, but who must have been sensibly annoyed at 
the hinderance to his measures which would result from their 
disagreement, resolved to send Contarini to the emperor, 
Sadolet to the king of France, as peace-makers ; beseeching 
them to sacrifice their private complaints to the public good. 
But Contarini dying, he substituted Cardinal Yisco, who 
was so unpopular with the emperor, that the pontiff was 
compelled to recall him. n 

m Sarpi, p. 79, sq. 

n See Courayer, p. 184. 



80 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

The Legates sent to Trent. 

At the same time Paul sent three legates to Trent ; 
Morone, lately raised to the dignity of the sacred college, 
Peter Paul Parisis, and Reginald Pole, the latter of whom 
was renowned for theological learning, and venerable for the 
sanctity of his habits, the splendour of his ancestry, and the 
glory of the exile and persecution which he had undergone 
in defence of the papal power. They received their com- 
mission on the 16th of October, being thereby empowered 
to notify to the Christian princes their arrival at Trent ; 
to affix to the doors of the cathedral the usual placard, 
requiring the presence of those who, by right or custom, 
ought to assist at general councils. They were not, how- 
ever, to open the council until after the arrival of the prin- 
cipal prelates from Italy, Germany, France, and Spain ; and 
then not without giving information to, and awaiting the 
further commission of the pontiff. 

The legates had received the cross on the 20th of October, 
but were unable to reach Trent by the day fixed for the 
opening of the council. On the 22nd of November they 
arrived there, having been preceded by Giantommaso di San 
Felice, bishop of Cava, who had been deputed, with the 
cardinal bishop of Trent, to receive the prelates as they 
arrived, and to make the necessary preparations for the 
council. But whether the renewed war between the em- 
peror and Francis I. had rendered the journey unsafe, or for 
other reasons P less easy to conjecture, the attendance of 

° Pallav. v. i. p. 432. "L' altro il Polo ben addottrinato nella Teolo- 
gia, e venerabile per la santita de' costumi, per gli splendori del sangue, 
e per la gloria delT esilio e delle persecuzioni sofferte a difesa del Vati- 
cano." These are better reasons than Sarpi's : — " Ut ostenderet, Rege 
licet Angliss ab Ecclesise Romanes obedientia alienato, ejus tamen regno 
primarium esse aliquem in concilio locum." 

p Sarpi, p. 80, asserts, that the pope had not only sent bishops 
■whom he could best trust, but that he had ordered them to lag on their 
journey purposely. Although he has the authority of Adriani (see 
Courayer, p. 185) for this assertion, it scarcely seems probable. Palla- 
vicino, v. 5, has an unsparing attack upon Sarpi on this subject, and, 
in a previous chapter, he reviews most of the previous historians of the 
Council of Trent in a vigorous but too depreciating manner. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



SI 



bishops was so small that no measures could be entered 
upon at present. So slow were they in coming, that Car- 
dinal Farnese was compelled to urge the nuncios at the 
different courts to take all possible means of expediting the 
attendance of the prelates of the respective countries. 

CHAPTER XLIY. 

Granvd and Mendoza at Trent. The Council prorogued. 

The emperor, now finding that the business of the council 
had gone too far to be stopped, sent Granvel and Mendoza 
as his ambassadors to Trent, whither they arrived on the 
8th of January, 1543. On meeting with the pope's legates, 
they demanded that the council should straightway be 
opened, and business commenced. .But the legates thought 
ihat the number as yet assembled was too small to be suited 
to the dignity of the council, or to the discussion of matters 
so important as those agitated by the Lutherans. Palla- 
vicino, however, says that Granvel's conduct had gone far to 
show that the emperor's anxiety for a council was at an end, 
especially as the chancellor had been heard to express some 
opinions in favour of a meeting in Germany. 9 He left after 
a short time, and proceeded to Nuremberg, leaving Mendoza 
at Trent. Finding, however, that the opposition of the Pro- 
testants and the paucity of the assembly prevented any ad- 
vance being made, he set out on his original embassy to Venice. 
The remaining legates perceiving that nothing could be 
done at present, and wearied with having fruitlessly stayed at 
Trent for seven months, during which time only a few pre- 
lates had arrived, while war was raging between the em- 
peror arid the king of France, they besought the pontiff to 
prorogue the council for the present ; which he did in a bull 
setting forth the toils, troubles, and difficulties he had 
encountered in order to assemble a council. In fact, it was 
evident that the sympathies of Christendom were by no 
means strongly enlisted in the cause. Indifference amongst 
one class, and duplicity on the part of those, who cared not 
one straw about the matter, when they had a more exciting 

i Pallav. ibid, who, however, thinks that this observation may have 
'been a ruse to excite the alarm of the pontiff, and to lead him to make 
terms with the emperor. 

G 



82 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



employment in retaliating private grudges, were sufficient to 
oppose formidable liinderances to a measure which had rather 
grown out of circumstances, than been the work of temperate 
deliberation. Again, it was easy to perceive that the council 
could have no effect on the Protestants, unless considerable 
concessions — jDerhaps inconsistent with its very existence — 
were made by the papal see, and the Protestants were too 
large a party, and too much associated with the available 
power and resources of Germany, to be slighted when war 
was impending. Moreover, the pope, by his very choice of 
cardinals, and by his employment of those very cardinals 
upon confidential missions, had shown a strong inclination 
towards reforming abuses in the Pomish church — a measure 
which, to numbers of indolent prelates and other clergy, 
who were now revelling in the sjooils of their irriquitous 
laziness, and whose very presence at, or promotion of, a 
council where such matters were likely to be brought to the 
question, could not fail to prove most unpopular. 

CHAPTER XLY. 

Meeting of the Emperor and the Pope. 

The emperor was now meditating his return from Spain to 
Germany, and the pontiff was anxious to converse with him 
at some convenient j)lace on the way. After some difficulty, 
the pope and the emperor met at Busseto, a castle belonging 
to the Pallavicini, situated on the banks of the river Tarus, 
between Parma and Piacenza. Both were, however, too 
much engaged in forwarding their own interests, and too 
much pressed for time, to bestow much attention upon reli- 
gious subjects. The emperor, whose whole anxieties were 
concentrated on the war with Francis I., strove earnestly to 
set the pontiff against him, and to persuade him to furnish 
means of prosecuting the war. The pope, on the other hand, 
ever watchful after the interests and aggrandizement of his 
family, was wholly bent upon obtaining Milan for his nephews, 
being encouraged in his expectations by the fact that Mar- 
garet, a natural daughter of the emperor, had been married 
to one of them, Octavius Farnese, and had thereby become 
duchess of Camarino. With the view of forwarding his 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



views, the pope promised to enter into an alliance against 
Francis; to elect several cardinals who should be nominated 
by the emperor ; to pay loO.OOO crowns annually for some 
time j and to leave the castles of Milan and Cremona in his 
power. But as the emperor required 1,000,000 ducats forth- 
with, and a like sum after a brief period, no terms could 
be settled at once ; and as the emperor was obliged to hasten 
into Germany, the matter was left to the minister of the 
pontiff, who should follow the emperor. As to the council, 
the emperor contented himself with the belief that, as he had 
sent some legates and prelates to Trent, the Catholics would 
be satisfied of his favourable inclination thereunto, while the 
blame of delay would be cast upon the French king. 

But although the pope and Charles parted with great 
demonstrations of mutual goodwill, the pontiff began again 
to mistrust the emperor, and to turn his mind towards the 
French king. Whatever doubts he might have entertained 
on the subject were wholly set at rest by the open defiance 
of his authority in the league formed by the emperor 
with Henry VIII. of England — a prince whom he had ex- 
communicated, anathematized, and formally deprived of his 
kingdom, — a prince, moreover, who, so far from quailing 
submissively beneath the papal ban, had openly denied its 
influence, and had punished with the utmost severity those 
who dared to maintain it. On the other hand, the king of 
France had evinced a strong and persecuting spirit, highly 
favourable to the Catholic cause ; his late acts and edicts 
against the Protestants, and the solemn condemnation of 
their doctrines by the Parisian divines, were strong reasons 
for deserting the cause of the emperor, who seemed in no 
haste to gratify the ambitious views of the pontiff for his 
nephews, and whose leaning to the Protestants seemed to be 
enhanced by the difficulties in which his wars involved him. 

When the complaints of the pontiff came to Charles's ear, 
he merely recriminated in reply, taunting the pontiff with 
being in league with the Turks, through the medium of the 
king of France, on the ground that the Turkish fleet, which 
had ravaged the rest of the Italian coast with the utmost 
ferocity, had passed by the papal rivers in a friendly manner 
— nay, that, when, going to Ostia, under the command of Poli- 

g 2 



84 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



nus, r to take in fresh water on the vigil of St. Peter's, they 
had thrown all Rome into terror and confusion, Cardinal de 
Carpi, who then commanded in the pope's absence, had 
assured them that there was nothing to fear, and that his 
king would be a friend, rather than a foe, to the Apostolic 
See. Pallavicino s attempts to show that this idea was ground- 
less, as the pope could have had little faith even in the most 
specious promises made on the part of the Turks ; but, although 
he may not have been directly instrumental to their coming, 
he probably connived at what he may have been unable to 
prevent. 

CHAPTER XLYI. 

Tlie Diet of Spires. 

, Pressed on every side by powerful enemies, and feeling his 
inability to meet the difficulties which beset him, without the 
aid of the confederate princes, the emperor convened a diet at 
Spires at the beginning of the year 1544, which was numerously 
attended. The king of France made an attempt to procure 
a hearing for his ambassadors, with the view of exculpating 
himself from the charges alleged by the emperor. But they 
were not only sent back with their letters unopened, but ran 
some danger of their lives, being treated as the deputies of 
an avowed enemy of the empire. 

The Lutheran party foresaw that the necessities of the 
emperor were in their favour \ and it is not strange that they 
availed themselves of the advantage thus presented. Not only 
did they succeed in procuring the repeal of the obnoxious 
edicts of Worms and Augsburg, but a universal toleration 
was established for the present ; all questions respecting eccle- 
siastical property of which they had possessed themselves, 
were set at rest ; and the Protestants were made eligible to 
offices both civil and ecclesiastical, of which they had not 
before been capable. 

So violent a blow to the papal power could not be over- 
looked by the pontiff, who was painfully suspended between 
strong feelings of anger and a desire to conciliate. Per- 
ceiving that the disposition of Charles was diseased in a 



r Legate of the French king. 



8 v. 4. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT, 



85 



manner that might be susceptible of strong remedies, al- 
though mild ones might fail, 1 he resolved to remonstrate with 
him in strong terms. Accordingly, on the 2 -5th of August 
he issued a breve, in which paternal admonitions were 
mingled with some unmistakable threats. 

In this breve Paul sets forth, that his paternal love for 
the emperor, and the duty owed by him towards the Church, 
will not suffer him to pass over the proceedings in the late 
Diet of Spires, and bids him beware lest, following the ex- 
ample of Heli, he should, by a like indulgence towards the 
errors of the emperor, draw down the divine vengeance 
upon his own head. He proceeds to assert, that the decrees 
passed in that assembly were not only dangerous to the 
emperor's soul, but would be fraught with exceeding troubles 
to the Church ; that he ought not to violate the rules ob- 
served by Christians, which command that, in religious sub- 
jects, all should be referred to the Church of Rome; whereas 
he had ventured to hold a council touching matters of faith, 
without calling upon the pope, who alone, by divine right, 
has the power to summon such assemblies. Again, the 
emperor not only wished the laity to be allowed to decree in 
spiritual matters, but the most indiscriminate class of laity, 
including heretics of the vilest errors. In the case of spiri- 
tual goods, moreover, rebels, whom he had condemned by his 
own edicts, he had restored to the full enjoyment of their 
former privileges. He acquits the emperor of having acted 
thus of his own free will, and attributes his conduct to the 
evil advice of the enemies of the Church of Rome ; but com- 
plains that he should have yielded to counsels so pernicious, 
illustrating the danger of usurping the office of the high- 
priest by the scriptural examples of Uzziah, Korah, and 
others. " Nor does it suffice," continues the pontiff, " to say 
that the work was a holy one ; for holy things become impious 
when administered by those to whom it appertaineth not." 
He then sets forth the good fortune and honours which have 
ever fallen to the lot of those princes, who have devoted 
themselves to the service of the See of Rome, adducing 
the examples of Constantine, the Theodosii, and Charles the 
Great, and illustrating the consequences of the opposite line 



1 I have followed Sarpi, p. 81, sqq. and Pallav. v. 5, 6, 7. 



86 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



of conduct by those of Anastasius, Mauritius, Constans II., 
Philip, Leo, and other princes. And of such judgment the 
emperor ought to stand in especial dread, being descended 
from princes, who have received more honour from the 
Romish church than they had bestowed upon it. 

As touching the work of reformation, he avows himself 
favourable to it ; but he entreats and admonishes the emperor 
to leave the care thereof to himself, as appertaining to him of 
divine right. He then urges the pains, trouble, and anxiety 
he had bestowed in seeking to assemble a general council, 
as the only means of establishing religious unanimity, and 
exhorts the emperor to do all in his power to promote that 
design. In language teeming with the most affectionate 
phrases, and by no means deficient in solemn earnestness, he 
urges him to desert the evil counsels, which had led him 
aside from the right path, and to obey the calling voice of his 
spiritual father ; to cease from interfering in questions touch- 
ing religion or the priesthood; to refer such matters to their 
legitimate tribunal ; to leave the judgment concerning the 
goods of the Church to the priests, to whom the Lord has 
intrusted it ; to study peace, or, if he cannot lay down arms, 
at least to promote the convocation of a general council, with 
full powers to judge of those who have fomented such perni- 
cious dissensions 1 among the Christian populace ; finally, to 
rescind the decrees passed in favour of heretics, and to do 
away with the benefits which a mistaken leniency had led 
him to bestow upon them. In conclusion, he warns the 
emperor that his own indulgence must have a limit, and 
must depend upon his future conduct, exhorting him not to 
drive him to a harshness of conduct inconsistent with the 
affection he entertains for him, and invoking the mercy of 
God to turn him away from the evil advisers by whom he is 
at present surrounded. 11 

CHAPTER XLYII. 

Peace concluded between Charles and Francis, 

Charles received this remonstrance without resentment, 
the more readily as he had already condemned his own con- 



« Pallav. v. 7, p. 465. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



87 



duct mentally, and could but be sensible that the part he 
had played was anything but a consistent one. Moreover, 
there is reason to believe that the character of Paul III., 
however mistaken] might be the policy or principles which 
he pursued, was not one to be trifled with. " If the long 
range of pontiffs be considered, no one was more earnest in 
the defence of the Apostolic See than Paul ; no one con- 
tributed so much to reform the manners of the court ; no one 
adorned the senate with better men ; no one contributed so 
largely to wars undertaken against the enemies of the faith ; 
no one abstained so inflexibly from undertaking wars in 
which the blood of the faithful might be spilt, save when he 
was compelled to reduce to order the insubordinate of his 
own dominions." 

Such is the praise which a clever, but partial historian 
bestows upon a man, who, had he possessed any other dignity 
than that of pope, might have filled it in a manner that 
would have silenced criticism, and left room for admiration 
only. But we have already seen too much of that tem- 
porizing spirit, which, at all periods the disgrace of the 
Roman See, was ecpally conspicuous in this pontiff, who was 
in other respects a model of emulation for his successors, 
which few of them could hope to imitate. 

An unexpected relief presented itself to the harassed mind 
of Paul, in the sudden reconciliation of the emperor and the 
king of France. " The emperor," as Sarpi quaintly observes, 
u saw plainly, that while he was busied in the French war, 
and his brother in the other against the Turks, Germany so 
much increased in liberty, that the imperial name would not 
be esteemed within a short time ; and that so long as he 
made war in France, he imitated ^sop's dog, who, following 
the shadow, lost both it and the body." v On September 18th, 
154:4, peace was concluded between them at Crepy ; and Paul, 
overjoyed at the event, ordered public thanksgivings to be 
offered throughout the whole Church of Christendom, sent 
congratulatory messages to the princes, and, in a bull pub- 
lished on the 19th of November, removed the suspension of 
the council, and summoned the assembly to meet at Trent, 
on March 15th of the ensuing year. w 

v Sarpi, p. 103 of Brent's English translation, fol. Lond. 1676. 

w Some of Father Paul's theories and reasonings relative to the 



88 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

The Legates sent to Trent. Various Delays. 

Paul, whose declining years and feeble health rendered 
him ill-fitted for the journey, selected as his legates to the 
council, Giammaria del Monte, bishop of Palestrina, Marcello 
Cervini, and Reginald Pole. " In this man he chose nobility 
of blood, and opinion of piety, which commonly was had of 
him, and the rather for that he was an Englishman, to show 
that England did not rebel : in Marcellus constancy,' and 
immovable and undaunted perseverance, together with ex- 
quisite knowledge : in Monte reality and openness of mind, 
joined with such fidelity to his patrons, that he could not 
postpone their interests before the safety of his own con- 
science.'^ The bishop of Cava was ordered to precede the 
legates, as before, and two of them set out immediately. 
Pole, however, stayed for some little time, from fear, it was 
said, of experiencing violence at the hands of the king of 
England's emissaries. At their departure, the legates were 
not provided either with written instructions, nor with a 
bull of faculty, being perhaps uncertain as yet what instruc- 
tions would be best adapted to existing circumstances, and 
wishing to see how the emperor would act. 

On their arrival, they found that no other prelate than the 
bishop of Cava had reached Trent ; but in a few days there, 
arrived Campeggio, bishop of Feltri, and Cornelio Musso, 
bishop of Ritoreto. Mendoza also came from Trent, to act 
as representative of Charles at the council, and he was soon 
after followed by the ambassadors of the king of the 
Romans. 

But the old mischief was still at work p and, whether from 

pope's conduct appear forced and unsatisfactory. I know not whether 
Pallavicino is always right in his objections to them, but I prefer 
omitting particulars, where there seems fair room of exception. 

x Vol. ii. p.105, Brent. Pallavicino is ill pleased with this latter remark. 

y That some foul play was concerned in the delays concerning the 
opening of this council cannot well be doubted. I insert the following 
curious passage of Father Paul, rather as illustrative of the surmises 
entertained respecting the conduct of the pope and his legates, than as 
wishing to vouch for its strict accuracy. Pallavicino is warm but not 
satisfactory in his denial : — 

"The legates not knowing which way to treat, made demonstration 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



89 



lack of interest in the proceeding, or because some secret 
and unaccountable influence withheld, what the authorities 
of the Romish church professed* to put forward, the scene 
of the council was still comparatively a desert. The old 
objection was again raised, that the small number of prelates 
present rendered it inexpedient to open the council on the 
day which had been appointed, especially as Mendoza alleged 
that the Spanish bishops would speedily set out for Trent, 
and the bishops within the jurisdiction of the pope had been 
commanded by him to hasten thither without delay. More- 
over, the legates felt anxious to learn the proceedings of the 
diet then assembled at Worms, and also to see what would 
be the result of the letter issued by Pietro Toletano, the 
viceroy of Naples, requiring the bishops of that kingdom 
not to leave their dioceses, but to b>e satisfied with four 
proxies, whom he promised to depute to act in their name. 

Bitterly annoyed, and much surprised at this prohibition, 
the pontiff ordered the legates to suspend the opening of the 
council, and then issued a bull, forbidding, under the severest 
penalties, any bishop to appear at the council by proxy, and 
enjoining all to present themselves in person. Although the 
pontiff well knew that this rule could not be universally 
followed, and would have been willing to have made excep- 
tion under circumstances that rendered it necessary, still he 
resolved to adhere to it until he had compelled the viceroy 
to withdraw the prohibition. 

Pole was still absent; but the other two legates having 
communicated with the pope, he gave orders to open the 
council on May 3rd, being the festival of the Finding of the 

to proceed jointly with the ambassadors and prelates, and to commu- 
nicate to them their most inward thoughts ; whereupon, when letters 
came from Rome or Germany, they assembled all to read them. But 
perceiving that Don Diego equalized himself to them, and the bishops, 
presumed more than they were wont to do at Rome, and fearing some 
inconvenience would arise when their number did increase, they sent 
advice to Rome, that always one of the letters should be written to be 
showed, and the secret things apart ; because letters which they re- 
ceived until then they had made no use of but by their wit. They de- 
manded also a cipher, to communicate the matters of greater moment. 
All which particularities, with many more that shall be spoken of, 
having taken out of the register of letters of the cardinal of Monte, 
I have not been willing to conceal them, because they serve to pene- 
trate the depth of the treaties." — Sarpi, Brent's translation, p. 107. 



90 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Holy Cross. To implore a blessing on the undertaking, as 
well as to give importance to the solemnity, he had intended 
to celebrate mass publicly himself in the Vatican church on 
that day ; but a letter which he received from the legates the 
day preceding, although not absolutely giving proof of a 
change of intention on their part, was yet sufficiently dis- 
couraging to make him desist from so doing. 2 

The opening of the council was still delayed, the legates 
feeling doubtful how to act under existing circumstances. 
On the one hancL the paucity of members as yet present, on 
the other, the uncertain state of the emperor's feelings, pre- 
sented difficulties which seemed to admit of no easy solution. 
In fact, the more we consider the waywardness and listless 
conduct, the fickle and time-serving principles which seem to 
Kave actuated most of those engaged in the transaction, the 
more does the Council of Trent appear to us in the light of a 
measure originated by opposition, and carried on rather by 
force of circumstances, than by any heartfelt interest on the 
part of one side or the other. 

Nevertheless, far be it from me (especially when I am 
speaking of the manly and enterprising characters of men 
like Paul III. or Contarini) to deny what an admirable writer 
of our own time has asserted, viz. that, even "reading the 
proceedings of this council in the pages of that able, but not 
very lenient historian, a to whom we have generally recourse, 
an adversary as decided as any that could have come from 
the reformed churches, we find proofs of much ability, con- 
sidering the embarrassments with which they had to struggle, 
and of an honest desire of reformation, among a large body, 
as to those matters, which, in their judgment, ought to be 
reformed." 13 To judge fairly of the amount of sincerity in a 
man's actions, we must also make some allowance for what 
he has at stake in the question at issue. It is too much the 
fault with Protestant writers to forget that the intemperate 
violence of the Anabaptists, and. of other sects of Reformers, 
whose zeal far outstripped their discretion, and whose rabid 

z This communication, which is important in reference to the secret 
policy of the contending parties, is unfortunately too long for insertion. 
It will be found in Pallav. v. 10. 

a /. e. Fra Paoli Sarpi. 

b Hallam, Lit. of the Middle Ages, v. i. p. 370, note. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



91 



passion for mere alteration led to criminal and terrific ex- 
cesses, made the Romanist party cling more firmly to a 
specious conservatism, which, while it stood firmly and sternly 
in the way of every attempt at substantial and scriptural 
reform, still defended the sacredness of old institutions, 
while it upheld temporal interests. Both the sincerely and 
the selfishly religious had no small reasons for clinging to a 
principle, which made the Vatican the centre of appeal, 
where men might intrust their souls and their purses to one 
custody. 

Furthermore, great as may have been the interest con- 
scientiously felt at times in the convocation of a council — even 
admitting, upon a by no means unfair supposition, that the 
pope and the emperor may have on certain occasions felt a 
real desire, and felt persuaded of the necessity of such a 
medium for the suppression of religious discord — still there 
was enough in the history of previous times to prove that 
such a council (as the event afterwards showed) would fail 
in its main object — that of conciliating the Protestants. 
Nor was this the only discouragement. War and dissension 
between princes, who at one period appeared to be mutually 
dependent, and upon whose support the Roman See could 
calculate only as a matter of speculation — plotting and 
counterplotting between parties, whose very existence seemed 
to hang upon mutual well-being, even at the moment they 
were striving to outwit one another — quarrels and recon- 
ciliations, alliances and defections the most sudden and 
unexpected — all these were difficulties enough for Chris- 
tendom itself, much more for the pope, to contend with. 
A late politician once denied that there was such a thing as 
consistency in the world. The Council of Trent presents 
but too many instances of the truth of that doctrine in 
something more than secular matters. 

To return from this digression — the main fear both of the 
pontiff and the legates resulted from the uncertain conduct 
of the German princes and the emperor — the latter of whom 
was evidently compelled to conciliate the Protestants — while 
they were equally opposed to the council, fearing that its 
commencement would be the termination of the conge which 
had been accorded to religious freedom until the opening of 
the synod. To Cardinal Farnese, legate of the emperor, it 



92 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



was therefore intrusted to allow the legates to orjen the 
council, without receiving direct orders from Rome, as soon 
as circumstances should appear favourable. The viceroy of 
Naples felt compelled to make at all events a show of sub- 
mission to the papal bull, and " nominally to leave his prelates 
to act according to their own judgment and sense of duty ; 
sending, however, only the four whom he himself had chosen, 
though without the odious name of proxies." 

Poverty, privation, absence from their wonted residences, 
and from the administration of customary duties, made this 
long delay most irksome to a large party of those assembled 
at Trent. To appease this grievance, the legates voted a 
subsidy to those whose circumstances rendered it necessary, 
and wrote to the pontiff, suggesting the necessity of making 
some further provision to meet such exigences. d As a further 
means of quieting the dissatisfaction, and preventing the 
prelates leaving Trent, the legates employed them daily in 
forwarding various matters more or less directly connected 
with the council, and thereby gained two objects, not only 
quieting the discontented, but gaining a daily accession to 
their numbers. Still, the delay had an undoubted tendency 
to weaken the cause, and the legates frequently came in for 
blame that was more justly deserved by the emperor. e 

At length, in a consistory held on the 16th of November, 
1545, it was resolved that the council should be opened on 
the 13th of the following month; and a bull was expedited, 
wherein Paul declared, " that he had intimated a council to 
heal the wounds of the Church, caused by impious heretics. 
Therefore he exhorted every one to assist the fathers assem- 
bled therein with their prayers to God ; which to do effec- 
tually and fruitfully, they ought to confess themselves, and 
fast three days, and during that time to go in processions, 
and then to receive the most blessed sacrament, granting, 
pardon of all his sins to whosoever did so." f 

c Waterworth, p. lxx. It is almost unnecessary to say, that both 
Sarpi and Pallavicino contain much of the interior history of this period 
which is well worth knowing, but which is at the same time too copious 
to be transferred to these pages. 

d Sarpi, p. 97. 

e " Ea res legatos vehementer offendit : quod diver sum a vero mentem 
ipsis affingeret, et concilii dilationem, quae imperatori esset ascribenda,. 
ipsis imputaret." — Sarpi, p. 96. 

f Sarpi, p. 123, Brent's translation. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



93 



Instructions were also given to the legates relative to the 
manner of proceeding in the council. They were to treat of 
the articles of religious doctrine at once, notwithstanding 
any opposition that might arise : they were to regard 
opinions only, and not their authors. But in the condemna- 
tion thereof they were not to enter into trials and proofs of 
the facts, not only to prevent unnecessary delay, but to 
give the accused the opportunity of exculpating themselves ; 
they were not to content themselves with general proscrip- 
tions of errors, but to enter carefully into details touching 
those doctrines which were propagated either by word of 
mouth or by writing, and on which the new heresies built 
-their support. 

The subject of reformation, as being but the secondary 
cause of assembling the council, was to be deferred till after 
questions of doctrine had been settled. They were not, how- 
over, to give way to such delay as was likely to occasion a 
disbelief that it was either being shuffled out of the way, or 
postponed till the end of the council. They were to listen 
carefully to such objections as might be brought against the 
court of Rome, not, however, with a view of taking any steps 
in the matter themselves, but of furnishing the pontiff with 
"the information necessary to enable him to determine the 
right course to be pursued. 

All letters and documents expedited in the name of the 
council were to be attested by the signatures of the three 
legates, as presidents, and of the pope, whose person they 
represented, so that he might appear not merely as the 
author of the convocation of the council, but likewise as the 
head and ruler of it when assembled. When no hinderance 
prevented, expedition was to be used in despatching the 
whole business of the council, both with the view of avoiding 
the waste of time, and of silencing the objections to which it 
gave rise. 

Finally, they were empowered to grant a certain number 
of indulgences, but not in the name of the council — such a 
concession not belonging to an assembly of that descrip- 
tion, s 

I am not going to enter into the sophistry in which Palla- 
vicino has unsparingly indulged with the view of proving 



s Pallav, v. 16, § 2. 



94 



THE HISTOEY OF THE 



tliat the pope was exempt from views to his own personal 
aggrandizement in framing these directions. Nor will I detain 
the reader with his discussion on the word " politics," as his 
defence of those of Paul III. will not prove the amount of 
religious sincerity he would wish to infer. But it may be 
well to point out a few features in these directions, which 
serve to show that the council was, as regarded the only 
purpose for which the reformists could have desired it, wholly 
useless. 

In the first place, the pope had the full power of putting 
in an objection, or of negativing any measure proposed ; the 
abuses of the Church of Rome were to be treated of as 
secondary, whereas they had been the primary cause that 
led to its convocation. Rome had lived on in errors that 
were increasing from day to day, and yet, on the present occa- 
sion, she appeared in state to try her own offences, and to 
test those of her opponents by a jury to which they had 
unanimously objected. It was a case in which the authority 
of the pope was the contested point, with the pope as su- 
preme judge in his own cause, and with a foredoomed verdict 
in his own favour. 

Now, there is no doubt, that to admit any power of 
decision on the part of a general council, in matters where 
the pontifical authority was likely to suffer, was, however 
agreeable to the practice of earlier Christian councils, now 
most thoroughly improbable ; and no one can read the direc- 
tions given to the legates without perceiving, that the inde- 
pendence of the council was limited to the privilege of con- 
demning heretics, establishing and ratifying old errors, and 
just intermingling such measures of reform as might leave 
the whole real power of the Church, as before, in the hands 
of the pope. The maxim was, "Freedom of speech; but 
don't touch my supremacy." 

But a still better evidence of the manner in which this 
council was subservient to the wishes and tastes of the pon- 
tiff, is to be found in a statement of Pallavicino, to the effect 
that Paid had previously announced to the legates, that he 
intended shortly to hold an election of new cardinals, both 
with the view of raising a friend of the emperor to that 
dignity, and of doing away with an impression on the minds 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



95 



of the people, little suited to the pontifical authority, 
namely, that the pontiff had not the power of bestowing the 
purple while a council was sitting. 11 

This fact is interesting, as showing not only that the pon- 
tifical dignity was losing credit even amongst its own 
adherents, and that some ideas touching a limit to its 
assumptions had been entertained among the greater mass 
even of Eoman Catholics. If direct language to that effect 
were wanting, surely this measure, and the reason that 
prompted it, were good grounds for proving the pope's deter- 
mination to hold a general council as possessing a secondary 
authority only, and a power in no way calculated to restrain 
his own proceedings. 

Nor can I omit dwelling upon another fact — upon which 
some political reasoners will perhaps set little value, but 
which is nevertheless curious, if only " as an historical coinci- 
dence — the empowering of the council to grant indulgences. 

It will hereafter be seen, that conciliation of the Protes- 
tant party was anything but the spirit which guided this 
council ; but it nevertheless seems strange that the deputies 
of an assembly, avowedly called together for the purpose of 
appeasing disturbances and pacifying the tumults which had 
sundered the unity of Christendom, should have been endued 
with a power to exercise that very privilege claimed by the 
Church, which had been the primary ocassion of Luther's seces- 
sion. Surely it was a beforehand declaration of a determi- 
nation to persist in the points at issue, even in the very 
teeth of the opposition they were about to encounter. 
Was there not a kind of authoritative recklessness in this 
act, better becoming a party who, as hereafter will be 
shown, rather meditated personal aggression, than men who 
had a sincere interest in gaining over the hearts and wills of 
their fellows, or in honestly probing the truth, apart from the 
draperies with which increasing superstitions had shadowed 
it 1 In the power of indulgences granted to the legates of 
this council, we seem to read the war-challenge to Protes- 

h Pallav. v. 16, § 1 : — "Si per distmggera una popolare credenza poco 
onorevole all' autorita pontificia, che in tempo di concilio non fosse lecita 
al papa la distribution delle porpore." This fact is omitted by Water- 
worth, for reasons perhaps not difficult to discover. 



96 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



tantism, and the haughty determination of the pontiff even 
to go out of his way 1 to assert his power. 

Even now, when no difficulties seemed to interfere with 
the progress of the council, an unexpected order was sent 
by the king of France, commanding the four bishops of Aix, 
Clermont, Agde, and Rennes, to return. Guillaume Duprat, 
bishop of Clermont, immediately obeyed the royal mandate, 
and the rest, despite the earnest remonstrances of the legates, 
the cardinal of Trent, and the Spanish prelates, seemed dis- 
posed to follow him. At length, however, it was agreed 
that the bishop of Rennes should return to the king, the 
bishop of Agde linger in the neighbourhood of Trent, and 
the archbishop of Aix remain. The opposition of the king 
proved but temporary, and he even expressed his appro- 
bation of the conduct of the two bishops who had remained 
behind. 

On the 7th of November, the legates received final in- 
structions to open the council on the 13th of the December 
following, and a breve to that effect reached Trent on the 
11th of that month. On the day following a solemn fast 
was held, and public prayers offered, to crave a blessing on 
the forthcoming convocation. On the same day, moreover, 
a general congregation of the prelates was held, when the 
bishop of JaenJ wished that the breve appointing and em- 
powering the legates, should be read on the following day, 
when the bull indicting the council would be read as usual. 
This was, however, considered superfluous. 

Having now completed this historical sketch as far as the 
first session of the council, I think it advisable to close the 
first part, as the necessary notices of doctrinal, as well as 
historical matters, will render some difference in treatment 
requisite during the remaining portion of the work. 

1 Be it remembered that this power had been granted them, " che 
•awertissero di non lasciar mai che queste si dispensassero a nome del 
concilio, a cui non s' appartenena un tal atto." — Pallav. 1. c. p. 498. 
Some persons may regard this measure merely as a popular one, likely 
to attract favour with princes concerned in the council ; but it seems to 
me to suggest designs more deeply connected with the maintenance of the 
papal supremacy. 

j Sarpi says Asturia. He is very inaccurate in many of these parti- 
culars, and I have therefore followed Pallavicino. 



PAItT THE SECOND. 



CHAPTER I. 

Opening Ceremonials of the Council. First Session. 

On the 13th of December, 154,5, the legates, accompanied 
by the bishops arrayed in their pontifical robes, and by a 
large throng of doctors of divinity, clergy, and laymen, pro- 
ceeded in solemn procession from the church of the Holy 
Tiinity to the cathedral dedicated to St. Vigilius. On their 
arrival, Cardinal del Monte, as first legate, celebrated high 
mass ; at the conclusion of which he bestowed, in the name 
of the pope, a plenary indulgence on all present, exhorting 
them to make earnest and constant prayers to Almighty 
God for the peace of the Church, and the suppression of 
heresy and dissension. A Latin sermon was then delivered 
by Fra Cornelio Musso, bishop of Bitonto, which was followed 
by the prayers customary on such occasions. a After the bull 
of November 19th, 1544, removing the suspension of the 
council, and the breve of the 22nd of February, 1545, nomi- 
nating the legates, had been read, a brief exhortation was 
delivered by the first legate. 

"When the bishops had taken their seats, the president, 
Cardinal del Monte, asked them whether it pleased them, 
46 unto the praise and glory of the holy and undivided Trinity, 
for the increase and exaltation of the Christian faith and 
religion, for the extirpation of heresies, for the peace and 
honour of the Church, for the reformation of the Christian 
clergy and people, for the depression and extinction of the 

a See Sarpi, p. 102. Pallav. v. 17, is profuse in charging Father Paul 
with inaccuracies in his description of the ceremonies observed at the 
opening of the council. 

H 



98 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



enemies of the Christian name, to decree and declare that 
the sacred and general Conncil of Trent hath begun." b 

This having been unanimously agreed to by the form 
u placet," it was next proposed, that " whereas the celebra- 
tion of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ was near at 
hand, and other festivals of the concluding and commencing 
year followed thereupon, the first ensuing session should 
be held on the Thursday after the Epiphany, being the 7 th of 
January, 1546." This having met with a like approval, Her- 
cola Severola, as promoter of the council, ordered the public 
notary to take a proper and authentic account of the pro- 
ceedings. The " Te Deum" was then chanted, and the fathers 
having laid aside their pontifical robes, and assumed their 
ordinary costume, accompanied the legates to their own 
dwellings, preceded by the legatine cross. These rites were 
observed at each succeeding session. 

CHAPTER, II. 

Strictures on the Oration of the Bishop of Bitonto. Further Particulars 
touching the First Session. 

The Germans and Italians, who had eagerly awaited to 
hear intelligence of the proceedings of the council, were soon 
gratified by the appearance in print of the charge given 
through the legates, and the speech delivered by the bishop 
of Bitonto. This latter document excited great dissatisfac- 
tion ; nor will the elaborate defence of Pallavicino satisfy any 
one either of its soundness of argument or excellence of style. 
Elimsy rhetoric, clumsy platitudes, and paltry comparisons 
are bestrewed throughout with little \ discrimination ; and 
many of the exaggerated statements respecting the power 
and infallible judgment of general councils become almost 
amusing, from the distorted figures of speech, and the total 
misconception of the meaning of scriptural texts, by which 
they are distinguished. 

While the admonition addressed by the legates was re- 
ceived by all as pious, moderate, and Christian-like, the 
opinions respecting the bishop's oration were very different. 
"All charged him with vanity, and a showing off of elo~ 

b "Decrees and Canons, p. 12 of my translation. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



99 



quence ; while those skilled in the matter found, on com- 
paring the words of the legates with those of the bishop, that 
they were utterly repugnant, and that the one party had ex- 
pressed a pious, the other an impious opinion. The legates 
truly and candidly allowed, that it was vain to invoke the 
Holy Spirit, unless the mind were first cleansed by a sincere 
acknowledgment of sins committed. The bishop, on the con- 
trary, held that the Holy Spirit would open the mouth of 
those in whose very heart the Spirit dwelt not. Moreover, 
they thought that arrogance had impelled him to assert that 
if some few bishops went astray, the whole Church erred ; as 
if councils composed of seven hundred bishops had not erred, 
whose doctrines had nevertheless been rejected by the Church. 
Nor were there wanting those who denied that this was 
suited to the doctrine of the Church, which conceded infalli- 
bility to the pope only, and to councils only by virtue of his 
confirmation of their decrees." Nor were these the only 
objections urged against an oration, which is only rendered 
worse by the attempts made in its defence.** 

Pallavicino states, that three legates, four archbishops, 
twenty bishops, five generals of religious orders, and the 
ambassadors of King Ferdinand, formed the council. e But 

c Sarpi, p. 103, sq. 

d Cf. Courayer, p. 236, sq. n. 52. 

e Le Plat says, four archbishops and twenty-two bishops. Sarpi 
simply says, twenty-five bishops. The following remarks of Waterworth 
(although they totally lose sight of the fact that the pope had reserved 
to himself a power of interference that rendered the proceedings of the 
council wholly subservient to his own pleasure) are somewhat important, 
as showing Roman Catholic views on the subject of the independence of 
the council : — " It has been not unfrequently represented that, of the 
prelates present, the majority were under the direct territorial influence 
of the pontiff, when so far was this from being the case, that in reality 
not one in five of the bishops who assisted at the council but was com- 
pletely independent of that influence, and under the immediate control 
of some one or other of the great princes in Christendom, as the very 
slightest inspection of the list of bishops present and of the countries from 
which they came, will at once evince. The history, too, of almost every 
session of the council proves the complete independence of the bishops on 
the pontiff " (p. lxxv.). Compare the following very opposite remarks of 
Bishop Burnet : — "The intrigues at Trent, as they are set out even by 
Cardinal Pallavicino, were more subtile, but not less apparent nor less 
scandalous. Nothing was trusted to a session till it was first canvassed 
in congregations, which were what a committee of the whole house is in 

K 2 



100 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



although the council had formally commenced, neither the 
prelates nor the legates knew what plan of action was to be 
pursued as to the manner of conducting the assembly, nor 
were the requisite officers appointed. They accordingly com- 
municated with the pontiff on the subject ; and, after some 
deliberation with the cardinals and other leading men of the 
Roman court, he appointed Achilles de' Grassi advocate of 
the council ; Ugo Buoncompagni was deputed to draw up the 
official documents ; and Angelo Massarello was intrusted with 
the office of secretary, at first only for a time, although his 
abilities and assiduity ultimately secured him the permanent 
appointment. 

The legates having also wished to ascertain whether the votes 
in the council should be given by nations, or by individuals, the 
pontiff gave his opinion in favour of the latter system, 
observing that the other was of but recent growth, having 
been introduced at the Council of Constance, and subsequently 
adopted at Basle, while the old system, which had been used 
in the Council of Lateran, was both the best, the most suit- 
able, and the least likely to give offence. 

CHAPTER III. 

Preparations for the Second Session. 

It cannot fail to strike the reader, that the first session ot 
the Council of Trent was little else than a display of cere- 
monials, warranted doubtless by the prescript of long-stand- 
ing usage, but insufficient in itself to compensate for the 
unsatisfactory state of the other proceedings. Everything 
was in an unfinished and incomplete condition, and Paul 
himself, by the delays which he had caused, seemed to throw 
a damp over the commencement of this* council, which 
augured ill for its ultimate success. 

However, preparations for the next session began to be 

our parliament, and then every man's vote was known, so that there was 
hereby great occasion given for practice. This alone, if there had been 
no more, showed plainly that they themselves knew they were not 
guided by the Spirit of God, or by infallibility ; since a session was not 
thought safe to be ventured on but after a long previous canvassing." — 
On the Articles, p. 202. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



101 



carried on with greater activity, and the question as to 
whether any persons but bishops should be permitted to give 
their vote on matters of doctrine was settled in the following 
manner. The privilege of voting was to be allowed to the 
generals of the religious orders; but the three abbots of the 
Cistercians were to have but one vote, as representing one 
order. Such prelates as might be let by some lawful hin- 
derance, but w r ho sent proxies, were to depend upon the 
decision of the pope as to their right of voting. This fact, 
which has been slurred over by writers on the subject, is of 
more importance than it appears, showing, as it does, the un- 
willingness of the pope to yield any concessions calculated to 
increase the independence of the bishops, even though to the 
advantage of the council. 

Another matter, which, although arranged for a time, 
never was, nay, up to the present moment, never has been 
settled, was the title to be given to the council, at the 
beginning of the decrees in each session. One party, not 
satisfied with the terms " general and oecumenical," wished 
to add the words, "representing the universal church," as 
used at the councils of Basle and Constance. But the legates, 
who feared to give authority to councils, which (especially 
that of Basle) had been instrumental to what the Church of 
Borne denounced as schismatical, and who perhaps thought 
that they might increase the bad feeling on the part of the 
Protestant party, succeeded in negativing this proposals 

On the 7th of January, 1546, the second session assembled 
with the customary ceremonies, the mass being celebrated by 
Giovanni Eonseca, bishop of Castell-a-mare, and the sermon 
preached by Coriolano Martirano, bishop of San Marco. 
The assembly consisted of more than thirty theologians of 
great eminence, besides four cardinals, four archbishops, 
twenty-eight bishops, four generals of orders, and three 
abbots. Two of the archbishops were titular only, never 
having seen the churches whence they derived their titles ; 
one being the celebrated antiquarian Olaus Magnus, brother 
of John, bishop of Upsal, who had been driven out of his 

f Pallav. vi. 2. Sarpi, p. 108. Courayer'3 notes, p. 247, sq. are im- 
portant. 



102 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



see at the time of the Reformation being introduced into 
Sweden; and Vaucop, bishop of Armagh, who had been a 
confidential emissary of the papal court in Germany, France, 
and elsewhere.? The bishop of Castell-a-mare then read a 
breve, bearing date December 4th, 154-5, by which the 13th 
of December had been appointed for the opening of the 
council, as well as the bull prohibiting votes by proxy. Next 
came the decree " touching the manner of living, and other 
matters to be observed, during the council." In this document, 
besides various precepts encouraging devotional and abste- 
mious habits during the holding of the council, the members 
of it are exhorted to give all the] results of their learning, 
and to apply all their powers of thought to determine the 
questions at issue, and to observe the precepts of the Council 
of' Toledo respecting avoiding disturbances in the assembly, 
violence of speech, and captious disputation. 

Two disputes arose during this session. WiDiam du Prat, 
bishop of Clermont, demanded that, in the prayers appointed 
to be said dming the sessions of this council, the name of the 
king of France should be coupled with that of the emperor 
in the sunrages ; a request to which the Cardinal Santacruz 
made no objection, save that it would lead to a similar desire 
on the part of other princes. This proposal, which had been 
already agitated in a previous congregation, 11 was negatived. 

The second dispute was respecting the addition of the words 
st representing the universal church," which was negatived 
for the present ; but, as will be seen in our next chapter, was 
still regarded as an open and unsettled question. In other 
respects the " placet " was unanimous. 

e See Sarpi, p. 109, and Courayer, p. 218, sq. 
h Sarpi, I. c. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



103 



CHAPTER IY. 

Preparatory Congregations for the Third Session. 

On the 13th of January, a congregation was held, in 
which the legates made great complaints respecting the con- 
duct of those who had opposed themselves to the title of the 
decree in the last session. They alleged that it was most 
indecorous to display different and varying opinions in so 
public a place, and that congregations had been therefore 
instituted, to the end that each man might be able to give 
his opinion in private, so that, when they came to give 
decision in the council itself, all might unanimously agree. 
Moreover, nothing was so likely to terrify heretics, and 
confirm the Catholic party in a firm and unshaken adherence 
to their faith, than the appearance " of unanimity. They 
concluded by urging the adoption of the title " oecumenical 
and general," as used in the pontiff's bull, and without any 
further addition. 

This dispute, while it serves to show the unwillingness of 
the Church of Rome to acknowledge the fallibility which 
the councils of Constance and Basle had satisfactorily esta- 
blished, at the same time proves how little real confidence 
a large portion of the Romanists felt in their whole pro- 
ceedings. I have already quoted Bishop Burnet's severe 
but just criticism on the tendency of these previous assem- 
blies to render the sessions of the council little else than 
confirmations of the measures which had been agreed upon by 
private intrigue. In fact, the whole freedom of the council 
must have been crippled by the certain unpopularity with 
which the voice of a reformer would have been received, and 
die obvious desire to stifle free public discussion, while cal- 
culated to give a specious appearance of unity to the decrees 
of the council, was oftentimes not the heartfelt, well-under- 
stood determination of temperate and upright counsel, but 
the curbed and clipped resolve of a packed committee. 

In the meetings which followed, a more important ques- 
tion arose, touching the manner of proceeding with the 
future sessions, and long and animated discussions ensued. 
The emperor and his party 1 were of opinion that no good 

* Especially Cardinal Madrucci. See Courayer, p. 254. 



104 



THE HISTOEY OF THE 



could accrue from treating of doctrines, until the errors of 
the clergy, the cause of so many evils, were properly re- 
formed. Another party were for commencing with the 
heads of faith, alleging, that to proceed otherwise would be 
contrary to the whole spirit of Christianity, and wishing the 
extirpation of heresies to take the first place in the pro- 
ceedings of the council, as it had done in the papal bull. 
A third party were for uniting both subjects, observing 
that, as every doctrine of faith was accompanied by some 
abuse, and that every abuse arose from the misinterpretation 
or misuse of some doctrine, they ought to be treated of 
simultaneously. The remaining party, especially some of 
the French bishops, wished the establishment of peace to be 
first considered, and that the princes of Christendom should 
be called upon to do all in their power to abstain from mutual 
hostilities, in order to promote the safety and tranquil con- 
tinuance of the council. They also thought that the Lu- 
therans should be urged to attend the council, and called 
upon to testify their agreement with the rest of the Christian 
world. k 

The pontiff had required of the legates that faith alone 
should be first treated of ; but they, finding the impossibility 
of proceeding in the face of a strong opposition, informed 
Paul of the difficulty in which they were placed, and re- 
quested farther instructions. They also urged the expe- 
diency of either removing some of the poorer bishops from 
the council, or of reheving them with supplies of money, 
observing that it was a mistake to suppose that they could 
live -with the same frugality and poverty at Trent as at 
Rome ; for that at Rome, being of no position or authority, 
they could endure an humble mode of life, but that their 
seat in the council gave them greater ambition, and made 
them expect more competent means of supporting the im- 
portance they had thereby obtained. 1 



1 Sarpi, p. 112, who attributes the previous neglect of the pontiff, 
respecting the matters urged by the legates, to his mind being occupied 
with the design of a war against the Protestants. Courayer. p. 256, 
assigns less important, but perhaps more probable, reasons for Paul's 
conduct. 




COUNCIL OF TREXT. 105 

again renewed, and the legates found themselves met by a 
firmer opposition than ever ; and it was at length determined 
that the advice of Canipeggio, bishop of Feltro, should be 
followed, and that both faith and discipline should be treated 
of simultaneously. 

As a practical example to the rest, the first legate, Car- 
dinal del Monte, after returning thanks to God, and eulogizing 
the desire shown by the prelates to reform whatever abuses 
existed among their order, avowed his determination at once 
to renounce his bishopric of Pavia, reduce his establishment 
and expenditure, and do his utmost to cany out the princi- 
ples of a healthy and becoming reform. His conduct was 
followed by the cardinals Gervini, Pacheco, and Pole, who 
admonished the fathers " that the reformation ought to 
commence with themselves, and extend to whatsoever and 
wheresoever abuses existed unworthy of the purity and per- 
fection of the Christian character." 111 Such a deterniinatioD, 
while it doubtless delighted the conscientious churchman, 
whose principles were really interested in the reformation of 
abuse, must have alarmed and disgusted the larger mass, 
whose splendid manner of living, whose cupidity in the 
search after wealth and position, and whose abuse of both, 
rendered them the first persons upon whom the amendment 
would operate. Many there were, who, while urging the 
necessity of reform, had, with an unfortunate obliviousness 
of their own character, forgotten that its work would pro- 
bably begin with themselves. 

Having communicated these resolutions to the pope, the 
legates proposed two matters for consideration in the mean 
time : first, whether, at the next session, a decree should be 
set forth commanding that both faith and discipline be 
treated of simultaneously ; and secondly, what system should 
be observed in selecting, handling, and examining matters 
connected therewith. 

A trivial dispute respecting the form and design of the 
seal to be used in signing the letters of the council ensued ; 
but it was agreed that they should at present content them- 
selves with the seal of the chief legate. 

In another congregation it was determined that no decree 

m Waterworth, p. lxxx. 



106 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



should be passed, formally "binding the council to treat of 
faith and doctrine in conjunction, hut that it should he 
understood, that such a method of proceeding should be the 
one pursued, although the change was not to be made in the 
next session, but in the one following. 

It had also been arranged, with the view of securing 
expedition and quiet during the debates, that the prelates 
should be divided into three congregations, one of which 
met at the residence of each of the legates. The result of 
their debates was to be communicated to a general congre- 
gation ; and there examined and decided upon, after which 
it was to be ratified in the public session. 

Time was now approaching for the session, and the 
legates, having as yet received no advices from the pontiff, 
were in doubt how to act. Finding, however, that many 
bishops were on their journey to Trent, it was thought ad- 
visable to postpone all further decisions until they arrived. 
Cardinal Pole proposed that, in the interim, the creed of 
the Romish Church should be proposed publicly in the 
following session, after the manner of the creeds propounded 
for acceptation at previous councils. It was finally agreed, 
that the decree should be drawn up with the old heading, 
and that mention should be made both of doctrine and refor- 
mation, but in terms so general as to be capable of being 
adapted to every occasion ; that the creed should also be 
recited and published ; that another decree should be made, 
referring the consideration of other matters till the session 
following, and postpone that session till the furthest period 
possible, provided it did not extend beyond Easter. 11 

CHAPTER V. 

The Third Session. 

On the 4th of February, 1546, the session was opened 
with the accustomed solemnities. Pietro Tagliavia, arch- 
bishop of Palermo, celebrated mass, and the sermon was 
preached by Ambrosio Politio. The former prelate then 
read the decree, declaring the symbol of faith, as follows : — 

n Sarpi, p. 114. 

° This will be found in my edition of the "Decrees and Canons/' 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



107 



" I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of 
heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible ; and in 
one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, and 
born of the Father of all ages j God of God, light of light, 
very God of very God ; begotten, not made, of one substance 
with the Father j by whom all things were made : who for 
us men, and for our salvation, came down from the heavens, 
and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, 
and was made man: crucified also for us under Pontius 
Pilate, he suffered and was buried ; and he rose again on 
the third day, according to the Scriptures ; and he ascended 
into heaven, sitteth at the right hand of the Father ; and 
again will come with glory to judge the living and the dead; 
of whose kingdom there shall be no end : and in the Holy 
Ghost, the Lord and giver of life, who proceedeth from the 
Father and Son ; who with the Father and the Son together 
is worshipped and glorified ; who spake by the prophets : 
and one Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one 
baptism for the remission of sins ; and I look for the resur- 
rection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. 
Amen." 

Against this first decree only three dissentients pro- 
tested, and their objections were unimportant, being directed 
not against the creed, but against the omission of the 
clause u representing the universal Church." The bishops of 
Capaccio and Badajoz also protested against the omission of 
a decree binding the council to treat simultaneously of doc- 
trine and reformation.! 1 By the second decree, also read 
by the archbishop of Palermo, the next session was post- 
poned till the 8th of April. 

Besides the legates, there were present the cardinals of 
Trent and of Jaen, twenty-seven bishops, three abbots, five 
generals of orders, and Father le Jay, proctor of the cardinal 
bishop of Augsburg. 

p. 15. I have thought fit to insert the creed from the same volume, as 
it will be useful to compare it with that of Pope Pius I Y. 
p Courayer. p. 262, sq. 



108 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER VI. 
Dissatisfaction at Rome. 

Neither the pontiff, nor any of the party closely interested 
in the welfare of the Roman court, felt satisfied with the 
conduct of the legates. So carefully had Paul endeavoured 
to render the council merely subservient to the support of 
his own dignity, that the idea of uniting reformation with 
doctrinal questions was highly distasteful. Nevertheless, 
even the pontiff was forced to succumb to a principle which 
was slowly, but surely, working the downfall of the "ipse 
dixit" of papal power. 

Moreover, it could but be perceived that the real business 
transacted at Trent at present lay in a nutshell. Nothing 
had been done — delays had been grasped at upon every ima- 
ginable excuse ] ceremonies, serving as prefaces to nothing — 
discussions, ending in the same ; — excuses, explanations, and 
apologies — these were the doings of the early sessions. Modern 
times have witnessed the possibility of a House of Commons 
doing nothing throughout an entire session : the Council of 
Trent, in its earlier sittings, was not one whit behind the 
most talkative inactivity that even the head of a cabinet 
could contrive. 

It was but natural that a number of men, many of them 
pre-eminent for the highest attainments, and endued with all 
the mental energy to which the recent revival of learning had 
given an impulse, should have felt disgusted with the listless 
trifling which seemed to be a mere excuse for keeping them 
away from the exercise of their ordinary duties. Much 
vexation existed at Trent. The pontiff appeared to have no 
decisive intentions, and his legates were proportionably 
deficient in instructions. The want of some material point 
for discussion was sensibly felt, and the most earnest entrea- 
ties were made by the legates to the pontiff, to decide upon 
some definite plan and order of proceeding. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Reformation in Germany. Death of Luther. 
Meanwhile the work of reform was proceeding with rapid? 
strides in Germany. At the beginning of the year 1^46> 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



109 



the elector Palatinate had permitted the use of the cup to 
the laity, as well as public prayer in the vulgar tongue, the 
marriage of priests, and various other points of religious 
reform. Furthermore, the assembly which the emperor had 
convened at Ratisbon proved a failure — a result to which 
the conduct of both parties probably contributed. The 
Protestants were ill satisfied by the conditions to which the 
emperor wished the conference to be subject, and were 
suspicious of the character of the deputies whom he had 
sent thither ; while the Catholics were naturally averse to 
assemblies, which were rendered unavailing by their obstinate 
determination to make no concessions, except in matters of 
little consequence. Q 

On the 18th of February died Martin Luther. His latter 
days had been principally disturbed by the ill success of his 
attempts to reconcile the two Counts von Mansfeld, 1 while 
his physical powers had been worn out by the anxieties of a 
life of controversy, acting upon a system originally debilitated 
by disease. Marvels were narrated to account for the death 
of a man aged sixty-three years, and the miraculous power 
of Cod's vengeance was called in to account for what had 
happened in the course of the ordinary working of his will. 
It is against the plan of my work to enter into the con- 
tradictory stories connected with the last days of this great 
man's life — still more so to declaim in apologies for his 
many mistakes and errors, or to expatiate, on the other hand, 
in rhetorical panegyrics, on abilities that can duly be 
measured by their influence on the whole subsequent state 
of Christendom. As a specimen, however, of the manner 
in which his name has been dealt with by Eoman Catholics, 
{Ideixoiifroqoiq sisw 4 g&tegsl eid has <mQ£tas$ni erkiosb 

i I have adopted Courayer's views, p. 263, n. 100. He adds : « II 
taut avouer, cependant, que les Protestans furent les premiers qui roin- 
pirent les conferences, en se retirant secrettement pour suivre les ordres 
de l'Electeur de Saxe, qui, mal satisfait des conditions auxquelles Pem- 
pereur voulait que se tint le colloque, en rappella ses the*ologiens, qui 
furent bient6t suivis des autres. A cet £gard, il est certain, qu'ils furent 
ceux qui rompirent le colloque. Mais on ne peut gueres de'savouer que 
les Catholiques n'y eussent donne lieu par les difFerens avantages qu'ils 
voulurent prendre, soit de ce que l'empereur et les presidens leur etoient 
favorables, soit en refusant aux Protestans quelques conditions assez 
e'quitables que ceux-ci demandoient." 

r Michelet, p. 82. 



110 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



I will quote the following view of his character by 
Pallavicirto : — 

" Luther was possessed of a fertile imagination, but of such 
a nature, that, whilst he gave utterance to abundant bitter- 
ness, he never gave vent to anything mature. His medita- 
tions, one and all, fail to satisfy the mind of the reader, and 
resemble an abortive giant, rather than a perfect offspring. 
His mind was vigorous, but befitting a destroyer rather than 
a builder ; and thus we find that the Catholic religion was 
overthrown by him in many places, whilst his own doctrine 
was founded in a narrow region. He possessed considerable 
learning, but it resembled a heap of indigested materials, or 
a treasury filled with copper coins, rather than a well- 
arranged wardrobe or casket. And this very flow of erudi- 
tion he used like the whirlwind of a summer storm, which, 
while it tears up the ground in all directions, bestows no 
refreshing and nutritious shower. No subject requiring 
varied erudition or extensive reading ever received illustration 
at his hands. He was eloquent both in tongue and pen, but 
like a whirlwind which blinds the eyes by upraising a cloud 
of dust, not like a placid fountain pouring forth clear water 
to refresh them ; for the reader will not find a single period 
throughout his many works, which does not convey an air of 
roughness and want of finish. He showed temerity rather 
than courage — ever valiant to plunge into the beginning of 
a quarrel, and afterwards persist in it, either fearing contempt, 
or despairing of pardon. No one was more petidant in 
treading, by dint of insults rather than satires, on the very 
sceptres of rulers, so long as he was out of their reach ; no 
one more timid, when danger was nigh at hand. He often- 
times professed regret at having proceeded so far against the 
pontiff, but he still fought on, believing that the bridge was 
now cut away from his feet. Repeatedly had he proffered 
silence, if his adversaries would only do the same : thereby 
evincing that it was zeal for the praise of men, and not love 
of the Almighty, that actuated his motives. He perverted 
Christianity rather to the ruin of others than to his own 
profit, in which he was followed by princes, who sought their 
own aggrandizement, and not his advantage ; and thence he 
lived in continual poverty, the more disagreeable as Ins pride 
was excessive. He retained a lasting remembrance in the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



Ill 



minds of men, but of infamy rather than renown, seeing that 
far greater is the number of those who detest the man as the 
beginner of a heresy, than of those who venerate him as a 
prophet." s 

Much of the character of Luther must for ever remain 
open to the speculations of those who have too few points in 
common to be ever likely to convince one another. The in- 
ward feelings and motives of those men who play the leading 
parts in the scene of human life are subject to so many 
varying influences, that it must be left to a higher intelligence 
than ours to probe their real nature. At the same time, 
such characters are grand studies as well for the ethical 
theorist as for the political practitioner. The very uncer- 
tainty which at times invests their most prominent acts is 
instructive, and the doubtful nature of many of the impulses 
which prompted them is — while it draws largely upon our 
powers of impartial judgment — the most painful illustration 
of our incapability to form a proper estimate of the real 
value of our own. 

CHAPTEE VIII. 

War meditated against the Protestants. 

Mosheim broadly asserts, that " the destruction of those 
who should oppose the Council of Trent had been agreed on 
between the emperor and the pontiff ; and the opening of 
the council was to be the signal for taking up arms." 1 From 
the writings of the historians on both sides, it is certainly 
evident that the decision of the points at issue had become 
a matter for arms, not arguments. The Council of Trent, 
with its pertinacious adherence to the claims of a papal 
authority, which, by negativing any measures calculated to 
work reform in the most serious points at issue, rendered it 
utterly inadequate to the task of calming the dissensions 
which it was its avowed object to compose, 11 was but a stand- 
point for Romanist aggression — a station from whence the 
strong hand of the secular power might demand its credentials 
to act. Despite previous intrigues, and specious attempts at 

s Pallav. vi. 10. * Y. iii. ch. iv. p. 151. 

u See this point excellently argued by Bramhall, " Schism guarded," 
serm. iv. p. 624, sqq. v. ii. (Oxford edition). 



112 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



•conciliation, * in the end the masks were removed, and the 
provisions for war could no longer be hid."* Rapid prepara- 
tions were being made by the emperor, the result of which 
will be shown hereafter. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Preliminary Congregations to the Fourth Session. 

" The divines/' observes Sarpi, " had until now served in 
the council only to make sermons on holy days, in exaltation 
of the council and the pope, and to make light skirmishes 
with the Lutherans ; but now that controverted doctrines 
were to be decided, and the abuses of learned men rather 
than of others to be reformed, their worth began to appear." y 
The work of the council might certainly be now said to have 
commenced, and it is from hence that its proceedings and 
decrees become an important commentary on the fundamental 
principles of Roman Catholicism, no less in developing the 
intrinsic character, than in pointing out their differences from 
the tenets of the reformed Churches. It was now that 

x Sarpi, p. 140, Brent's translation. 

y Sarpi, p. 141. He adds the following remarks, which will be useful 
.as showing against what Lutheran doctrines the proceedings of the 
session were directed : — The articles necessary for matter of doctrine 
drawn out of the Lutherans' books were — 

1. That the necessary doctrine of Christian faith is wholly contained 
in the holy Scriptures, and that it is a human invention to add unto 
them unwritten traditions as left unto the holy Church by Christ and his 
apostles, derived unto us by means of the continual succession of bishops, 
and that it is sacrilege to defend that they are of equal authority with 
the Old and New Testament. 

2. That amongst the books of the Old Testament none should be 
reckoned but those that have been received by the Je^vs ; or in the New, 
the six epistles, that is, under the name of St. Paul to the Hebrews, that 
of St. James, the second of St. Peter, the second and third of St. John, 
one of St. Jude, and the Apocalypse. 

3. That to understand the Scripture well, or to allege the prope 
words, it is necessary to have recourse to the texts of the original 
tongue in which it is written, and to reprove the Latin translation as 
full of errors. 

4. That the divine Scripture is most easy and perspicuous, and that to 
understand it neither gloss nor comment is necessary, but only to have 
the spirit of a sheep of Christ's pasture. 

5. Whether canons with anathematisms adjoined should be framed 
against all these articles. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



113 



doctrinal antagonism to the principles of Luther and other 
reformers, was to pave the way to the more active measures of 
aggression that were to widen the breach, and sever the 
combatants for ever. 

In the first preliminary congregation, held on the 8th of 
February, 1546, z some further disputes took place respecting 
the u representing" clause, and on the omission, in the last 
session, of a decree binding the assembly to proceed jointly 
with matters of faith and reformation, the legate, Del Monte, 
urging that there was no objection in the council " omitting 
in word, what it had done in effect, 5 ' and declaring his inten- 
tion to have introduced other clauses besides those stated in 
the pontiff's bull, had he not been otherwise advised by men 
of the highest authority. He next propounded the canon of 
Holy Scripture as the subject to be examined, with a view to 
the ensuing session. As this involved the settlement of the 
first outlines of religious belief, and as many books of Scrip- 
ture had been impugned by the reformist party, it obtained 
a ready assent, and the three following questions were placed 
before the next congregation. 

1. Were all the books of both testaments to be approved 
and received? 

2. Was this approval to be given after a fresh examination 
of the evidence proving them canonical ? 

3. Would it be expedient to divide the Holy Scriptures 
into two classes ; one containing such books as were to be 
read for instruction in morals, such as the Proverbs and 
Books of Wisdom, not yet received as canonical ; the other, 
such as were to be used for proving the doctrines of belief ? 

This latter proposal, urged by Bert an and Seripando, found 
few supporters, and was dropped without hesitation ; but the 
first question met with a unanimous assent ; the purpose of 
which was expressed in a speech by Cardinal Cervini, who 
set forth the authority of the last canon of the apostles, by 
the councils of Trullo, Laodicea, Florence, and the third 
Council of Carthage, as well as by St. Athanasius and 
Gregory of Nazianzum, and by the popes Innocent IV. and 
Gelasius. 

2 I have followed Pallavicino, vi. 11, in describing the proceedings of 
this session. Sarpi is too lax and uncircumstantial, but many of his 
.remarks -will be noticed subsequently. 



114 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



But the second question was less satisfactory ; and even the 
legates differed one with another. Del Monte was opposed 
to any fresh examinations, and was supported in his opinion 
"by Pacheco. But Cervini and Pole, together with the car- 
dinal-bishop of Trent, were anxious that the labour should 
be undertaken, not with a view of impugning the resolution 
to which previous councils had come, but to be provided with 
still more satisfactory proofs for confuting the objections of 
heretics. But the other party urged, that there would be an 
impropriety in even examining into what had been once 
settled as a matter of faith by councils approved by the 
Church, and that even the tacit sanction of the Church, 
ratifying the decision of previous prelates, ought not to be 
disturbed by a new scrutiny. As to the objections of heretics, 
they had been amply refuted by such scholars as Cochlgsus, 
Pigheri, and Eck. 

In the private congregation, at which Cardinal Cervini 
presided, the second opinion prevailed ; but in the general 
one, which was held on the 12th of February, no decision 
was arrived at, while in that held the following day the 
confusion and difference of opinion became so great, that it 
was necessary to take the votes of each separately and by 
name. The result of the scrutiny was a perfect unanimity 
in receiving as canonical the books of Scripture usually 
found in the sacred volume ; but Madrucci, with fourteen 
bishops, was opposed to the insertion of a clause denouncing 
anathema against those, who should refuse to receive the 
deutero-canonical writings, while Pacheco, the legate, and 
upwards of twenty of the fathers, were in favour of the 
anathema. 

A compromise was, however, effected in regard to the 
renewed examination proposed respecting the canonical 
authority of the books of Scripture, it being determined that 
a private examination should take place, but that the result 
of their investigations should not transpire among the 
public acts of the council. In other words, a packed assem- 
bly might give as many reasons for the existing belief as 
they could find ; but the papal authority refused to recognise 
even their right to give a public and independent proof of 
their researches, even when in its own favour. Clear inves- 
tigation and accurate scholarship were not wanting; but the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



115 



impartial spirit and the freedom of judgment, which can. 
alone give validity to the decisions even of the most learned, 
were crippled and stunted in their growth and development 
by the ex cathedra assumptions of the self-styled successor of 
St. Peter. 

Some activity, however, was displayed in the arrangements 
which were formed on the 18th of February. Each of the 
three private congregations was to be provided with two of 
the fathers, one learned in theology, the other in the canon 
law, to whom was committed the task of drawing up the de- 
cisions formed respecting Scripture and tradition. Salvador, 
archbishop of Sassari, the archbishops of Matera and Ar- 
magh, and the bishops of Badajoz, of Belcastro, and of Fel- 
tro, were the prelates nominated to this office. Moreover, the 
numerous theologians and professors of the canon law, who 
numbered in their ranks some of the most celebrated scholars 
of the time, were employed as advisers to the assembled 
prelates. " They were to be presided over by the legates, with 
a recommendation to the bishops to assist at their delibera- 
tions, but not to take any part whatever in their proceedings. 
The various questions placed before the three congregations 
of prelates were also to be submitted to these classes of 
theologians, and the result of their examination was to be 
referred to the congregation of bishops, to be by them con- 
sidered, prior to the general congregation and sessions." a 
Again, eleven of the fathers were deputed to treat on such 
abuses as might have crept into the use of Scripture or of 
tradition ; thus uniting the principle of reformation with that 
of doctrine. 

The subject of tradition, as might reasonably have been 
expected, was not concluded so easily. It was impossible 
that, even in a Romanist assembly, unanimity should exist 
upon an unscriptural theory, however convenient to the 
maintenance of existing abuses and corruptions. AJ1 agreed 
as to the existence of traditions ; but while one party wished 
that the traditions to be received should be distinctly spe- 
cified, others were equally urgent that they should be ap- 
proved of in general terms ; nay, they even wished to exclude 

a Waterworth, p. lxxxvii. His abridgment of Pallavicino in the 
description of the proceedings of the sessions is far more clear and 
satisfactory than in the earlier part of his history. 

i2 



116 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the term "apostolic" as an epithet, lest they should seem to 
reject all the others touching rites and ceremonies, which 
even themselves confessed to be unapostolic in their origin. 
Nothing could better serve to prove the conservative spirit, 
even in the case of the most flagrant absurdities, which distin- 
guished the spirit of this council. So far from reforming the 
excrescences which had deformed the fair body of the gospel, 
this council, in equalizing tradition with Scripture, ratified 
the decree of the Council of Florence, and declared itself the 
patron of many opinions as ill-founded, even in the prescript 
of antiquity, as in the authority of God's word revealed. It 
was objected by the bishop of Chioggia, that the decree of 
Florence was dated February 4th, 1441, whereas that council 
actually terminated in 1439. Del Monte, probably at the 
instigation of Cervini, replied that it was true that the 
Greeks had left the council at the period mentioned by the 
prelate, at the close of the seventh session ; but that the 
council continued open for three years more. He added, 
that there could be no doubts as to the authenticity of the 
decree in question, since it was preserved in the castle of 
St. Angelo, at Rome, signed by the name of the fathers then 
assembled, and authenticated by the Pope's seal. b 

Speaking of the arrangement of the canon of Scripture, 
Sarpi observes, that "the book of Baruch troubled them 
most, which is not put in the number of canonical books, 
neither by the Laodiceans, nor by those of Carthage, nor by 
the pope, c and therefore should be left out, as well for this 
reason, as because the beginning of it cannot be found. But 
because it was read in the Church, the congregation (esteem- 
ing this a more potent reason) resolved, that it was by the 

; tefd mqmi e nseal o* vMH 

b Pallav. vi. 8. A great many curious particulars, mentioned by 
Sarpi, denied by Pallavicino, and defended by Courayer, I have been 
obliged to omit for want of room. See Sarpi, p. 118, sqq. It is unfor- 
tunate that this writer has failed to mention his authorities, especially 
when they were of a recondite character. 

c /. e. not inserted in the catalogue given by previous popes. " De 
libro Baruch controversia fuit et est turn quia non invenitur in Hebrais 
codicibus, turn etiam quia nec concilia antiqua neque pontifices neque 
patres .... qui catalogum librorum sacrorum tenuit hujus prophet £e 
disertis verbis meminerunt." — Bellarm. quoted by Courayer, p. 272, 
n. 13. See Beveridge on Art. VI. mbjln. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



117 



ancients accounted a part of Jeremy, and comprised with 

CHAPTER, X. 

Continuation of the Congregations. State of the Scriptures after 
Translation. 

To continue the narrative with Pallavicino — The six de- 
puties, who had been commissioned to draw up a decree con- 
cerning Scripture and tradition, agreeably to the sentiments 
of the various congregations, laid the results of their labours 
before the assembled fathers. The old objection about the 
" representing clause," and also to the insertion of the words, 
" the legates of the Apostolic See presiding therein," e was 
raised by the bishop of Fiesole. Cervini again replied, that 
the words proposed to be added were at variance with the 
custom of older councils, while the addition of the clause 
respecting the legates had at least some sanction of previous 
example. 1 

A select assembly of fathers, and of those who acted as 
advisers,? was next held respecting the corruptions con- 
nected with Holy Scripture, and the following four objections 
were stated as the result of their investigations, and were 
afterwards propounded, together with their proposed re- 
medies, by the bishop of Aigues, and afterward explained at 
greater length by the bishop of Bitonto : — 

1. In order to remedy the mischief arising from the great 
variety of translations current in the Church, St. Jerome's 
version, or the Vulgate, was proposed as the authorized trans- 
lation, as it was more correct than most of the other editions, 
and had been prepared before the modern disputes — a fact 
likely to insure impartiality. 

2. It was considered, that in consequence of the various 
readings in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew copies, an accurate 
edition should be prepared under the care of the Sovereign 
Pontiff, and each episcopal church should be supplied with a 
copy. 

<l Pallavicino is unjust in his denial of this statement, as Courayer 
shows, p. 272, n. 3. 

e Cf. Decrees and Canons, Sess.iv. p. 17 of my translation. 

f This is not, however, very distinctly made out. See Pallav. vi. 12. 1, 

« See above, p. 115. 



118 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



3. In order to secure a more accurate interpretation, it 
was recommended that it should be forbidden to interpret 
the Scriptures contrary to the doctrines of the Church and 
the fathers, and that no commentary of the Scriptures should 
be published without a license from the ecclesiastic censors. 

4. Heavy penalties and fines were recommended against 
printers who should publish from incorrect editions of the 
Scriptures, or omit to annex their name or that of the author. 

In respect to this latter proposal, the archbishop of Pa- 
lermo thought that the Church had no right to inflict a 
pecuniary fine upon the laity, but that her influence ought 
to be limited to the infliction of such punishments as affected 
the soul — excommunication, for example. But the bishop of 
Bitonto declared that most of the select censors, perceiving 
the necessity of a universal power in the right administration 
of the affairs of Christendom, and the superior utility of 
bodily and outward punishments in prohibiting outward 
offences, considered that the censorship of the press must be 
enforced with penalties of a secular character. 

But the great blow struck against the freedom of the 
worshipper, and the privilege of imderstanding what he was 
taught to believe, was the attack made against the transla- 
tions of Scripture into the vulgar tongue, which Cardinal 
Pacheco held to be a serious evil. Many were of the same 
opinion, alleging in defence thereof, that for ages the Scrip- 
tures had not existed, even among the Jews, in the verna- 
cular tongue. Cardinal Madrucci politely, but warmly, re- 
monstrated, pointing out the vexation such a decree would , 
cause in Germany, when they heard that the Scriptures, 
which, by the precept of St. Paul, ought never to be away 
from the mouth of the faithful, were to be taken from them/ 
He wound up by saying, " I bear in memory the Lord's 
Prayer, and the Creed delivered to me in the German tongue, 
which are commonly learnt by the people of Germany with 
equal sense of piety and advantage. Would to God that no 
professor of Greek and Hebrew had ever come hither ! then 
would the Church have been freed from these ills with which 
it is now harassed." 

The latter opinion afterwards prevailed, although there 
were many who thought the advice of Pacheco sound, and 
well adapted to extraordinary circumstances, holding that 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



119 



many passages, apparently plain in their meaning, conveyed 
a deep and hidden sense, the misconception of which was 
likely to give fresh opportunities to the inroads of heresy. 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Bishop of Bitonto cited to Borne. 

In a congregation held on Friday, March the 5th, advice 
was received that the pensionaries of the bishop of Bitonto 
had demanded their payment at Rome, and had for this 
cause cited him before the auditor, requiring that he should 
be compelled, by excommunication and other censures, ac- 
cording to the custom of the court, to make payment. He 
lamented the poverty which prevented him complying with 
their demand, alleging that, " so long as he was in the council, 
lie could not spend less than six hundred crowns by the year, 
and that his pensions being detracted, he had left but four 
hundred : wherefore it was necessary that he should be dis- 
burthened, or assisted with the two hundred." 11 Pallavicino 
labours to disprove this statement ; but his language, in effect, 
goes far to prove what he denies. 1 The poorer prelates, who 
were interested in the dispute, vented bitter language against 
the oppression they could so well understand, " and said it 
was an infamy to the council, that an officer of the court of 
Rome should be suffered to use censures against; a bishop 
assisting therein; that it was a monstrous thing, and would 
make the world say that the council was not free ; and that 
the honour of that assembly required that the auditor should 
be cited to Trent, or some revenge taken against him, that 
the dignity of the synod might be preserved." 

CHAPTER XII. 

Arrival of Dm Francis of Toledo and Citation of Vergerius. 

On the 15th of March, the congregation was postponed in 
consequence of the arrival of Don Francis of Toledo, who 
had been deputed by the emperor to assist Mendoza at the 
council. He was met on his way by a grand procession of 
the families of the cardinals and of the clergy, and having 

* Brent's Sarpi, p. 144. 

5 Cf. Courayer, p. 273, n. 15. 



120 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



spent four days at Trent, proceeded to Padua, to commune 
with Mendoza — a condescension little agreeable to the pride 
of Don Diego, or to the advice of Pacheco — since, although 
Mendoza had asked for assistance in his capacity of orator at 
the council, he had done so with an earnest hope and confi- 
dence that his request would be refused. 

In his private conversation with the legates, Don Prancis 
stated, that the emperor was most anxious for a perfect 
unity with the pope, and that he himself had been sent 
thither by Charles chiefly on account of his faithful and 
ancient attachment to the pontiff. He also asserted, that 
Charles had declared to the Protestants that the council was 
convoked and assembled by his own will. 

About the same time Vergerius came to Trent, hoping to 
escape from the rage excited against him among his own 
people. He had long since been accused by Aleander of a 
tendency towards Lutheranism, but the suspicions seem to 
have died away, and Sleidan asserts, that the idea of making 
him a cardinal had even been entertained. Subsequently he 
was charged by the inquisitor, Friar Hannibal, a Grison, with 
having caused the barrenness of the land, which brought 
upon him the popular odium, and caused his departure, see- 
ing that 6i he knew not where to remain with more dignity, 
nor to have greater commodity to justify himself against the 
imputations of the friar, who published him a Lutheran, not 
only in Istria, but before the nuncio of Venice, and the 
pope." But the legates would not suffer him to appear at 
the council, without having first been justified before the 
pope, to whom they advised him to make further appeal. 
Departing in disappointment, he sought to return to his 
bishopric ; but, on reaching Venice, ho was forbidden to go 
thither by the nuncio. He quitted Italy within a few days, 
and subsequently beeame an earnest, and by no means tem- 
perate, opponent both to Romanism and the councils 

k I have blended the accounts of Sarpi, p. 145 ; Pallav. vi. 13, 3 ; 
and Courayer, p. 274, note 17, into one. Heidigger, p. 80, is merely the 
epitomiser of Father Paul. I shall hereafter have occasion to describe 
the attack made by Vergerius upon the bull of Pius IV., dated the 
29th of November, which has been published by Mehdham, Memoirs of 
the Council of Trent, p. 167. 



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121 



CHAPTER XIII. 

On the Formation of the Decree respecting the Reception of Scripture and 
Traditions. 

In the congregations held on the 27th of March, and on 
the earlier days of April, the following form of decree was 
proposed by the legates : that those traditions, which the 
apostles had received, handed down either by the outward 
voice of Christ, or by the inward inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit, and which had been propagated up till that time, 
should be received jointly with the sacred volumes. Some 
objected that this statement was too limited, and would be 
obnoxious to the objections of heretics, who would say that 
those traditions only which pleased, were approved, while 
others had been suffered to pass into oblivion by voluntary 
desuetude. Seripando, on the other hand, thought it too 
extensive, as embracing even the apostolical canons. Neither 
objection, however, was of much weight in an assembly where 
all were prepared to find an excuse for what already existed, 
rather than to subject its claims to impartial investigation. 

Stronger objections were made to the declaration that 
both the written and unwritten word were received with 
equal affection of piety and reverence. Bertan alleged, that 
although every truth proceeds from the first great Truth, yet 
are not all truths to be regarded and revered as the written- 
word of God 1 But the bishop of Bitonto, who was followed 
by most of the prelates, replied, that those traditions, which 
were thus equalled with the written word, were such only as 
were equally the revelations of God, differing only in the 
accidental condition that the one class had remained written 
in volumes, the other in the heart alone. Again, that as the 
being written did not make certain registered facts the word, 
of God, neither did the being not written cause traditions to 
cease to be the word of God. In a few days after, however, 
conviction seems to have taught him better ; for he wished 
the word like or similar to be substituted for equal — a 
change, however, that was far from meeting with approval. 

1 The account which follows is substantially that of Pallavicino, 
vi. 14. I have not, however, thought it necessary to append all the 
dates of the precise congregation at which each point was determined, 
as I should thereby often interrupt the clearness of the narrative. 



122 THE HISTORY OF THE 

# 

Still more revolutionary was the opposition raised in a 
general congregation of the 5th of April, by the bishop of 
Chioggia, m who regarded the traditions not as of divine in- 
spiration, but as laws, and, judging their weight intolerable, 
when the question of receiving them all was agitated, he de- 
clared that it seemed impious to place them on an equal 
authority with the Scriptures. So violent and unrestrained 
was the indignation which this avowal inspired, that he was 
forced to explain away, and eventually to apologize for, his 
attempted opposition to the council. Although I cannot 
give credit to Pallavicino's defence of this prelate's vacilla- 
tion in a matter so serious, his endeavours to acquit him of 
the charge of innovation, while they say little to the credit 
of the bishop, are an honourable proof of the historian's 
candour. 

In discussing the list of the sacred writings, the proposed 
phrase, " Psalms of David," was considered objectionable, as 
seeming to convey the notion that all the pieces in that 
collection were from the pen of that prophet. Despite the 
prescript of antiquity, — as the matter was one in no way 
affecting the power of the pope, — the phrase " Davidical 
Psalter" was therefore adopted. It was also resolved, that 
the Acts of the Apostles, which, in the proposed copy of the 
decree, were placed after the Epistles of St. Paul, should be 
put after the Gospels. 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Dispute respecting the Anathema against the Violators of Scripture and 
Tradition. The Vulgate. 

The discussion respecting the anathematizing of those who 
should "violate the sacred books and apostolical traditions,"' 1 
was again renewed. Seripando asserted that such an ana- 
thema had never been appended to any canon prepared by 
previous councils, nor in the decretals of the pope, and that 
at most an excommunication should be imposed, not to be 
ipso crimine incurred, but inflicted by the competent autho- 
rity of the judge. His objection, however, was overruled, on 

m Some curious particulars respecting this personage will be found in 
the correspondence collected by Mendham, Memoirs, p. 55, sqq. 
n See Decrees and Canons, p. 19. 



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123 



the plea of the example of the seventh synod of Gratian. 
Few impartial readers can doubt that, in this respect, as in 
some previous cases, the Council of Trent had already begun 
the work, if not of introducing, at least of fostering and 
arbitrarily adopting, innovations which rested upon as slen- 
der an authority as their own claims to infallibiHty. 

The four heads touching the abuse of Scripture, which 
have been already mentioned, next came under considera- 
tion, and we have seen with what result. Cardinal Pacheco 
now desired, not only that the Yulgate should be proposed 
as the authorized version, but that all others should be 
rejected, especially such as were published by heretics — a re- 
jection which he wished to be extended even to the Septua- 
gint. The coolness of this demand was too much even for 
the most earnest advocates of the Yulgate. Bertan replied, 
that the practice of the Church had sanctioned the use, not 
only of the Septuagint, but likewise of the versions of Theo- 
dotian, Symmachus, and Aquila. He allowed that one ver- 
sion should be acknowledged as the legitimate one, but that 
the rest should neither be approved nor disproved. Some of 
the bishops also recommended that the council should select 
some one copy of the Greek and Hebrew languages, as the 
standard according to which others should be formed ; but 
the majority were amply satisfied with the Yulgate, perhaps 
dreading that, as Erasmus once said, if the Yulgate lost 
its credit, more honour would be paid to grammarians and 
classical scholars than to theologians. 

As to the emendation of the Yulgate from the abundant 
errors and misrepresentations with which it abounded, it was 
thought dangerous to confess to its imperfections, which 
would be at once to establish a book and to condemn it. A 
clause, conveying in reality no meaning, beyond a declara- 
tion of Tridentine insincerity, was inserted, to the effect, 
" that an edition was to be printed in the correctest manner 
possible." 

° See above, p. 117, sq. 



124 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XV. 

Disputes on the Reception and Authority of the Vulgate. 

Before proceeding to conclude the determinations on the 
abuse of Scripture, it will be well to mention some of the 
disputes which Father Paul details, touching the reception of 
the Vulgate, especially as, although impugned by Pallavicino, 
they convey obvious evidences of the unsuccessful struggle of 
good sense against prejudice, learning against ignorance, which 
led to the dogmatical adoption of such a translation as the 
Standard text-book of the Church. It will be well to observe, 
that Pallavicino's denials do not apply to the facts stated by 
Sarpi, but to the inferences he has drawn from them. 

Father Louis of Catanea alleged that Cardinal Caietan, on 
going into Germany in the year 1523, found that no fitter 
means of convincing heretics could be found, than the accurate 
examination of the real and literal meaning of the text of 
Scripture in the original tongue, and that he consequently 
" gave up the remainder of his life to the study of Scripture> 
expounding not the Latin translation, but the Hebrew roots 
of the Old, and the Greek of the New Testament. In 
which tongues, having no knowledge himself, he employed 
men of understanding, who made construction of the text 
unto him word by word, as his works upon the holy books 
do show.P That good cardinal was wont to say, that to 
understand the Latin text, was not to understand the in- 
fallible word of God, but the word of the translator, subject 
and obnoxious unto errors. That St. Jerome spake well, 
that to prophesy and write holy books proceeded from the 
Holy Ghost, but to translate them into another tongue, was 
a work of human skill." The worthy father then proceeded 
to state, "that if the holy council should examine, or correct 
an interpretation according to the true text, the Holy Ghost, 
which assisteth synods in matters of faith, would keep them 
from erring ; and such a translation, so examined and 
approved, might be called authentieal. But that any could 

p The orthodoxy of Caietan was severely questioned on this account. 
See Pallav. vi. 1 7, 2, whose abuse of Sarpi is in many instances almost 
childish. 



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125 



be approved without such an examination, with assurance of 
the assistance of the Holy Ghost, he durst not say, except the 
synod did determine it, seeing that in the council of the 
holy apostles, a great inquisition was made before. But this 
being a work of ten years, and impossible to be undertaken, 
it seemed better to have things as they had remained fifteen 
hundred years, than that the Latin translations should be 
verified by the original texts." 4 

Other divines urged that, to confess the unauthenticity of 
the Vulgate, would be to yield the cause to the Lutherans and 
heretics, and that, as the doctrine of the Church of Rome 
was to a great extent founded thereupon, the new gram- 
marians would question not only the tenets advanced, but 
the meaning of the passages on which they were grounded. 
The changes which Luther, in his anxiety to arrive at the 
truth, had made from time to time, were also advanced as a 
proof that " if this liberty be given to ail, Christianity will 
soon be brought to that pass, that no man will know what 
to believe." 

Another party observed, u that if the providence of God 
hath given an authentical Scripture to the synagogue, and an 
authentical New Testament to the Grecians, it cannot be 
said, without derogation, that the Church of Rome, more 
beloved than the rest, hath wanted this great benefit ; and 
therefore that the same Holy Ghost, who did dictate the 
holy books, hath dictated also that translation which ought 

to be accepted by the Church of Rome And if any 

should make dainty to give the Spirit of God to the in- 
terpreter, yet he cannot deny it to the council ; and when 
the Vulgar edition shall be approved, and an anathema be 
thundered against whosoever will not receive it : this will be 
without error, not by the spirit of him that wrote it, but of 
the synod that hath received it for such." 

More temperate was the language of Isidore, of Brescia, a 
Benedictine abbot, who, after going learnedly into the history 
of the Various versions which had, at different times, obtained 
authority in the Church, concluded by observing : "St. Jerome 
saith plainly, that no interpreter hath spoken by the Holy 

<l Brent's Sarpi, p. 146. These arguments are temperately and neatly 
answered in the notes of Courayer, p. 276*, sqq. 



126 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Ghost. The edition which we have is his for the most part : 
it would be strange to attribute the assistance of God to him 
that knoweth and afhrmeth he hath it not. Wherefore no 
translation can be compared to the text in the original 
tongue. Therefore his opinion was, that the Vulgar edition 
should be preferred before all, and allowed, yet so as that it 
should be corrected by the original, and all men forbid to 
make any other : only that should be amended, and the 
others extinguished : and so all inconveniences caused by new 
interpretations, which have judiciously been noted, and re- 
prehended in the congregations, would cease." 

Andrea de Vega, a Franciscan, approved the opinion of 
-St. J erome, " that the qualities of an interpreter are not 
any prophetical, or other special divine spirit, which givetli 
them infallibility, and the o]3inion of the same saint, and of 
St. Augustus, that the translations should be corrected by 
the texts of the original tongue." He then proceeded to 
point out the spirit in which the Vulgate was to be received, 1 " 
"that the Latin Church holdeth the Vulgar edition to be 
authentical, because it is thus to be understood, that concern- 
ing faith and manners there is no error in it, though in some 
small matter, or expression of words, there may be a mistak- 
ing ; it being impossible that all the words of one language 
should be transplanted into another, but that there will be 
some restriction or enlargement of significations or metaphor, 
or other figure. That the Vulgar edition hath been examined 
heretofore by the whole Church dining the space of one 
thousand years, and known that there is no error in it, in 
matter of faith or manners ; and in this account it hath beer 
held and used by the ancient councils, and so ought still to 
be held and approved, and declared as authentical ; that is, 
that it may be read without danger, not hindering those 
that are more diligent to have recourse unto the Hebrew and 
Greek originals, but forbidding so great a number of whole 
translations, which beget confusion." 

So much, then, for the arguments which terminated in a 
decree, shutting up the word of God from the poor, and 
speaking an unknown tongue to the unlearned. So much 

r His views are approved by Waterworth, p. xci. after Pallavicino. 
The latter author seems totally to forget that his adversary is detailing 
ether men's opinions, and not his own. 



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127 



for a decree, 53 which, gave a premium to ignorance, and per- 
mitted enlightenment, by way of courtesy, to those whom it 
could not keep in the dark ! 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Touching the Interpretation and Non-abuse of Scripture. TJte Fourth 
Session. 

Long disputes ensued respecting the limits to be set to the 
interpretation of Holy Scripture; but the establishment of 
the Yulgate as a standard text* seemed likely to cut the 
knot it could not hope to disentangle. Cardinal Pacheco 
held that u the Scripture was expounded by so many and so 
excellent men in goodness and learning, that there was no 
hope to add any good thing in ore., and that all the new 
heresies sprang from the new expositions of the Scripture ; 
&nd therefore that it was necessary to bridle the sauciness of 
modern wits, and to make them content to be governed by 
the ancients, and by the Church ; and that if any had some 
singular spirit, he should be enforced to conceal it, and not 
to confound the world by publishing it." 11 

This opinion seems to have met with general approbation. 
The bishop of Chioggia, however, remarked that the words 
of the decree x were not to be understood of any kind of 
difference from the imaiiimous opinion of the fathers, but of 
direct opposition and contradiction ; leaving such passages, 
as had received no fixed sense either upon the authority of 
the fathers or the Church, an open question. With a view, 
however, of preventing any misuse even of this liberty, the 
cardinal of Jaen wished the interpretation of Holy Scripture 
to be confined to doctors and clerks; but in this he was 
warmly resisted by the cardinal of Trent, who thought it 
.unfitting that the profitable occupation of expounding the 
divine word should be restricted to men according to their 
circumstances and profession — rules by which piety and learn- 

s The qualifying clauses were omitted. See Decrees and Canon?, 
p. 20 of my edition. 

1 How far it really was a standard text, and how long it remained so, 
may be seen from a passage I shall hereafter quote from MendhamV 
Memoirs, — a book in which "many things new and valuable are to be 
found." — Eanke, p. 378. 

u Brent's Sarpi, p.- 150. x Decrees and Canons, p. 20. 



128 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ing ought by no means to be restricted. He held, however, 
that no publication of that description ought to be put forth 
without the sanction of the censors. Madrucci finally pro- 
posed and carried, that no work on the interpretation of 
Scripture should be published anonymously ; while, with 
regard to the printers of such books, the decree of the last 
Lateran Council was ratified, and the penalty there threatened 
was commanded to be enforced. 

It remains briefly to notice the remarks made respecting 
the abuses of Scripture. These are best summed up in the 
decree passed at the session to the following effect : — "Wish- 
ing to repress that temerity, by which the words and 
doctrines of sacred Scripture are turned and twisted to all 
manner of profane uses, to wit, to things scurrilous, fabulous, 
vain; to flatteries, detractions, superstitions, impious and 
diabolical incantations/ divinations, casting of lots, nay, even 
hereafter defamatory libels ; the synod commands and enjoins 
. . . that all men of this description, profaners and violators 
of the word of God, be restrained by the bishops, by the 
penalties of law and of their own appointment." z 

y Probably the Sorti dell' Epiphania is one of the incantations, &c. 
here alluded to, as we find, in a letter written about this time (in 
Mendham, Memoirs, p. 50, sq.), and which seems to have been some 
ancient kind of lottery, such as is played in drawing characters at 
Twelfth Night. 

z The following remarks of Sarpi furnish an excellent idea of the 
nature of the objections which this part of the decree was intended to 
remedy, as well as being interesting as a sketch of prevalent supersti- 
tions : "It remained to speak of the other abuses, of which every one 
had collected a great number and many ways to redress them, as human 
weakness and superstition useth holy things, not only beyond, but also 
contrary to that for which they are appointed. Of enchantments to find 
treasures, and to bring lascivious designs to pass, or to obtain things 
unlawful, much was said, and many remedies proposed to root them out. 
Amongst enchantments some put, carrying the Gospel about one, names 
-of God to prevent infirmities, or to be healed of them, or to be kept 
from evils and mischiefs, or to be prosperous ; likewise to read them for 
the same ends, and to write them with observation of times. In this cata- 
logue were numbered masses said in some countries upon red-hot iron, 
upon boiling waters, or upon cold, or other matters for vulgar purga- 
tions, to recite the Gospel over arms, that they may have more force 
against the enemies. In this rank were put the conjuration of dogs, to 
make them not bite ; of serpents, to make them not offend ; of powerful 
beasts of the field, of tempests, and other causes of the barrenness of the 
land, requiring that all these observations might be condemned, forbid, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



The fourth session, held on the 8th of April, 
sentecl no particular features. The archbishop o 
having celebrated mass, and the general of the orde 
vites preached, the decrees previously mentioned were \ 
read by the archbishop, and they were passed with bu 
opposition. The bishops of Cappacio, Fiesole, Badajoi 
Osca, still demanded the representing clause ; but, as tc 
clause touching the reception of holy Scripture and tradit. 
the bishop of Chioggia and the coadjutor-bishop of Bergai 
both expressed objections. a 

This session was attended by three legates, two othe, 
cardinals, eight archbishops, forty bishops, and the same 
abbots and generals, as in the preceding one. 

The following observations, from a diligent inquirer into 
the internal history of this council, deserve a place at the 
conclusion of our sketch of this session : — 

u It will be discovered that the matter of these decrees was 
by no means final, and that a considerable quantity of con- 
troversy was yet in reserve, and not easily to be disposed of. 
It will also be observed, that although confessedly, and as 
all parties agree, the holy Scriptures are the true foundation 
of all Christian truth, and the arbiter of all theologic disputes, 
the junction and incorporation of the apocryphal books, how- 

and punished as abuses. But in divers particulars there were contradic- 
tions and disputes. For some defended things as devout and religious — 
or at the least permitted — and not damnable, which others did condemn 
for wicked and superstitious. The like happened speaking of the word 
of God, by casting of lots, or divinations, or extracting schedules with 
verses of the Scripture, or observing those they met when they opened 
the book. To use sacred words in scandalous libels and other detrac- 
tions was generally condemned, and much was said of the means how to 
remove the Pasquins of Rome, wherein the cardinal of Monte showed 
great passion in desiring a remedy, because he was often made a subject 
of the sauciness of the courtiers' tongues, by reason of his natural liberty 
and pleasantness of wit. All agreed that the word of God could never 
be reverenced enough, and that to use it to men's commendation, though 
princes and prelates, is not seemly, and generally that all vain use of it 
is a sin." 

a u When the decrees were read, all answered, Placent. Monsignor di 
.Chioggia, however, said, Obediam forsan, and there vnere three bishops 
who denied the representing clause. The coadjutor of Bergamo did not 
approve, that traditions should be received pari pietatis affectu ac reve- 
rentia, but would substitute for the word pari that of summo. The rest, 
however, agreed to swallow the affair whole." — Mendham, p. 61. 

K 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



rtant, if not necessary, to the support of some of 
liar heresies of the Roman Church, perfectly de- 
the quality of the judge as to integrity — not to add, 
is procedure is flatly condemned by the judgment o± 
.e of Prague, whose prologus galeatus is prudently 
;ecl in the Tridentine edition of the Vulgate. But it 
not enough that the voice of God, in his genuine word, 
aid be thus diluted and corrupted ; what is called tradition, 
very different thing from ancient and legitimate tradition, 
rule only explicable by those who monopolize it to them- 
selves, and the consent of fathers, who are almost as various 
in themselves and with one another as the winds, are still 
by them called in aid, to restrain the oracles of God from 
misleading the people, or becoming an instrument of evil." 13 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Affairs in Germany and at Rome. 

The decision of the last council gave little satisfaction 
in Germany. That a small number of prelates, few of them 
remarkable for learning, should have taken upon themselves 
to decide the canonical authority of books never before 
settled upon, and to give additional force to a translation 
little deserving the credit even of ordinary correctness, was 
sufficient to astonish even a Romanist. Moreover, so far from 
the council being anything like a general assembly, scarcely 
a thousandth part of Christendom was represented. 

Others looked with more indulgence upon the decree in 
favour of traditions, alleging that " it was nothing to ordain 
they should be received, if it were not declared what they 
were, and how they should be known : then because there 
was no commandment to receive them, but only a prohi- 
bition to contemn them wittingly and deliberately." Again, 
" as for the Vulgar edition declared authentical, nothing at 
all was done, because, among so many copies, it cannot be 
known which is the true." c 

Meanwhile, the pope was taking ample care of his own 
authority, and the legates were duly admonished not to 

'° Mendham, p. 61, In the addenda, however, Mendhain correctly 
remarks, that the " prologus galeatus " has been added in later editions. 
c Brent's Sarpi, p. 153, sq. 



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131 



publish any decree until they had first communicated it at 
Home, to avoid too much celerity in proceeding, " which 
might make them resolve of some indigested matter, and 
want time for orders from him, what they should propose, 
deliberate, and conclude. Nor were they in any way te 
allow the pope's authority to be made a subject of dispute." a 

CHAPTER XYIII. 

Kccordmiinication of the Elector of Cologne. 

Having sent a nuncio to some of the Swiss bishops and 
abbots, e urging their attendance at the council, concerning 
which he appeared to be more anxious, the pope, at the 

d The breve will be found in Le Plat, v. iii. p. 404, sq. 

e Father Paul's statement, impugned by Pallavicino, and insufficiently 
defended by Courayer, p. 295, n. 48, is fully borne out by a letter pre- 
served by Mendham, dated the 15th of May, which, says he, p. 70, 
" presents us with nothing very observable, except the repeated assur- 
ance of the legates that they will amuse the council, up to the session, 
with extended discussions about the punishment of non-residence, and 
that they will not go forward in anything touching reformation without 
giving his holiness time to consider and resolve upon the subject.'* 
Equally characteristic is another passage, p. 68 : <f In a letter of the last 
day of April, is curiously illustrated the method of proceeding in the coun- 
cil, as [far as] its managers are concerned, in the undisguised confession 
that the legates kept the congregation employed with certain subjects — 
in the present instance it was abuses (no matter what) — in order to gain 
time for receiving an answer from Rome — the pope and his little council/ 5 
Well may we quote the following words of Archbishop Bramhall, touch- 
ing the independency of such councils : — 

"Hence it is that all the councils since the Council of Constance and 
Basle and the two Pisan councils, have wanted conciliary freedom, and 
been altogether at the disposition of the popes, — to prorogue them, to 
transfer them, to stint them what matters they might handle and what 
not, to defer their determinations until he had formed or created a 
party, or wrought some of the dissenting bishops to his will, to ratify 
or reject their decrees at his pleasure. When or where was it ever 
heard before, that there was twice as many bishops of one nation in a 
general council as of all the other nations in the world ? Hence was 
that complaint of the fathers in the Council of Trent, that the synod 
was guided by f the Holy Ghost sent from Rome in a mail/ If it had 
not been for this thing, but the fathers had been permitted freely to 
have proceeded in the Council of Trent in the resolution of that noble 
question, concerning the residence and divine right of bishops, in all 
probability this great rent had been made up, and he and I had not 
needed to have disputed the question at this day." — Bramhall, vol. iL 
p. 625. 

K2 



132 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



instance of several of his clergy, pronounced sentence ot 
excommunication against the archbishop-elector of Cologne, 
depriving him of all ecclesiastical benefices and privileges, 
and absolving his subjects from their oath of allegiance, 
because he had incurred the censures of the bull published 
by Pope Leo X. against Luther and his party. In another 
bull he ordered their obedience to be transferred to Adol- 
phus, count of Schawembourg, who had been taken as coad- 
jutor by the archbishop. 

But the emperor was ill disposed to quarrel with the 
elector, and, paying no attention to the pope's remon- 
strances, he continued to treat him as an archbishop. But 
the effect of this conduct of the pope was, to inspire greater 
mistrust than ever on the part of the Protestants, who per- 
ceived that the pope, by condemning a prince for heresy 
before the council had yet defined what heresy really was, 
virtually set the council at nought. The duke of Saxony 
signified this to the emperor, and afterwards observed, that 
as the pope's mind was now made manifest, it was high time 
to provide for the welfare of Germany, by a national council 
or diet respecting matters of religion. f 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Preparatory Congregations. 

Some attention had previously been paid to two points 
next to be handled, viz., original sin, and the reformation of 
abases connected with public preachers and lecturers. s The 
Spanish bishops, as well as those who favoured the emperor, 
wished reformation to be treated of without doctrine. The 
legates were in difficulty, and communicated with the pope 
in a letter, in which they also entered into questions of epis- 
copal residence and jurisdiction. Don Francis of Toledo 
protested most earnestly on behalf of the subject of refor- 
mation, being most earnest to avoid measures likely to give 
farther annoyance to the Protestants. But his efforts, 
even to obtain a further delay, were in vain, and, in a 
congregation held on the 28th of May, h the Cardinal del 

f Sarpi, p. 155. * See Mendham, p. 62, sqq. 

h My limits compel me to pass over many interesting particulars 
respecting the internal management of these congregations, as well as 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



Monte proposed that they should resume the examination of 
the doctrine of original sin, which had already formed a 
main subject of their private debates. Five points were 
proposed : 1. The nature of original sin ; 2. The manner of its 
propagation ; 3. The effects produced by it ; 4. Its remedy : 
5. The effects of that remedy. 

At the same time, the following propositions, taken from 
the books of the Lutheran party, were placed before the 
fathers to be examined and condemned : — 

1 . * That Adam, by transgressing the precept, hath lost 
justice, 1 and incurred the wrath of God, and mortality ; and 
though he be impaired both in soul and body, yet no sin is 
transferred from him to posterity, but only corporal punish- 
ments. 

2. " That Adam's sin is called original, because it is 
derived from him to posterity, not by transmission, but by 
imitation. 

3. " That original sin is ignorance, or contempt of God, 
or want of fear, without confidence in his majesty, without 
divine love, and with concupiscence, and bad desires ; and 
generally a corruption of the whole man in his will, soul, 
and body. 

4. "That in children there is an inclination to evil, pro- 
ceeding from the corrupted nature, so that after the use of 
reason, it bringeth forth a loathing of divine things, and an 
immersion in matters of the w orld ; and that this is original sin„ 

5. " That children, at the least born of faithful parents, 
though they are baptized into the remission of sins, yet they 
have no sin but by descending from Adam. 

6. " That original sin is not cancelled in baptism, but not 
imputed, or so razed, that it beginneth to diminish in this 
life, and is wholly rooted out in that to come. 

7. " That the sin remaining in the baptized hindereth his 
entrance into heaven. 

8. " That concupiscence, which cherisheth sin, and re- 
maineth after baptism, is truly sin. 

concerning various matters appertaining to preachers and lecturers, 
&c. See Father Paul, pp. 156-161 (Brent's translation) ; his remarks 
on the enthralled proceedings of the council are pertinent and con- 
vincing. 

1 I.e. original righteousness, ducawavprj. 



134 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



9. " That the principal punishment due to original sin, is 
hell fire, besides corporeal death, and other imperfections, 
unto which man is subject in this life." k 

To state the resolutions which the various assemblies, 
and subsequently the session, came to upon these subjects, 
would be to repeat what is clearly set forth in the Decrees 
and Canons 1 published by their authority. Nor would my 
limits in any way permit me to do justice to the many 
arguments urged, and the different views advanced, respect- 
ing this delicate and difficult question. In the private con- 
gregations, the opinions of the Dominican St. Thomas 
Aquinas, were urged by the bishops of Natola and Bossa ; 
while, on the second, an ingenious explanation brought for- 
ward by Catherinus, m who held the existence of a covenant 
between God and Adam, whereby the obedience or dis- 
obedience of our first parent was to affect the whole human 
race either for good or evil, found favour with a large num- 
ber. Soto opposed it with arguments drawn from the Do- 
minican opinions, and the council were forced to content 
themselves with asserting the existence of original sin, and 
its actual propagation, and condemning the opposite heresies. 

In fact, the Roman Catholics did not understand their 
own belief on this subject, and were forced to give a suffi- 
cient laxity to their definitions to furnish loopholes for 
their own inconsistencies and contradictions. Moreover, 
half the bishops assembled were totally incompetent 11 to 

k Brent's Sarpi, p. 162. 

1 P. 21, sqq. of my translation. To those desirous of entering into 
scholastic disquisition on these matters, I may recommend a book bear- 
ing the following title : — " Examinis Concilii Tridentini, per D. T>. 
Martinum Chemnicium scripti ; opus integrum, quatuor partes, in 
quibus praecipuorum capitum totius doctrinae Papisticaa, firma et solida 
xefutatio, turn ex sacrae Scripturse fontibus, turn ex orthodoxorum Patrum 
consensu, collecta est, uno volumine complectens. Pol. Francofurti, 
impensis Heredum Sigef. Feyrabendi, m.d.lxxxxvi." 

m Copiously stated in Sarpi, p. 137, sq. Latin edition. 

n Burnet, Hist, of the Eef. pt. ii. bk. i. p. 303. "They entered by- 
such slow steps as were directed from Rome, into the discussion of arti- 
cles of doctrine, which were, as they were pleased to call it, explained 
to them by some divines, for most part friars, who amused the more 
ignorant bishops with the nice speculations with which they had been 
exercised in the schools, where hard and barbarous words served in good 
stead to conceal some things not so fit to be proposed barefaced and in 
plain terms." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



135 



enter into crabbed scholastic disquisitions, which many of 
them had never dreamt of. . Accordingly, the decrees of this 
session, while totally free from any mistaken leniency 
towards Protestant deflections, leave the questions of the 
nature of original sin, and the manner of its transmission, 
freely open to the trifling of human zeal and partisanship. 
The Dominican and Franciscan still enjoy their bone of 
contention. 

CHAPTER XX. 

Touching the Immaculate Conception, and Limbo ; also of Baptism. 

When these decrees had been read in a general congrega- 
tion held on the 8th of June, Cardinal Pacheco, who had 
previously been anxious p that the question of the Blessed 
Virgin's nature should be settled \)j the council, again 
brought forward the matter, requiring that, to the second 
canon, which asserts the transmission of original sin to the 
whole human race, there should be added this clause : " The 
council does not intend to include in this decree, where 
original sin is treated of, the blessed and immaculate Virgin 
Mary, the mother of God; but that the constitutions of Pope 
Sixtus IV., of happy memory, are to be observed, under the 
pains contained in the said constitutions, which it renews." ^ 

Cf. Chemnitii Examen, pt. i. p. 89. " Sed ferme oblitus eram ejus 
qusestionis quae ad iios proprie pertinet ; cum scilicet omnes qualescunque 
disputationes de peccati originalis definitione, in Tridentino ConcUio 
siet libera opinandi licentia relicti sint : quid ibi factum fuerit doctrinal 
Augustinae Confessionis, quas ex Scripturae testimoniis constituit descrip- 
tionem peccati originalis ? Num igitur probant earn Pontificii ? N equa- 
quam : num. liberam earn permittunt ? Nihil minus : sed expresse earn 
damnant. Hoc vero mirabile est, cum reliquas omnes opiniones, quales 
eae cunque sunt, liberrimas relinquant. Sed discat ab hoc exempio 
lector, sicut poeta dixit : ( Romae omnia cum liceant, non licet esse 
pium :' ita in Concilio Tridentino, omnes qualescunque opiniones liberas 
relinqui, solam vero illam sententiam, quae ex Scripturae testimoniis 
extracta est, non tantum non relinqui liberam, sed horrendis clamoribus 
damnari." 

p In a congregation held May 24th. See Le Plat, v. iii. p. 419. 

1 Decrees and Canons, p. 24. See Le Plat, ibid. p. 423. The pas- 
sage of St. Augustine, from which this decree is taken, is De Nat. et 
Grat. c. 36. " Excepta itaque sancta Virgine Maria, de qua propter 
honorem Domini nullam prorsus cum de peccatis agitur, haberi volo 
quaestionem." The following most important passage is from Mend- 
ham, p. 76, sqq. : — " The council was evidently in a strait between two 



136 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Another dispute arose as to the nature of the punishment 
of infants who die in original sin, unregenerated by baptism. 
"Though Saint Austin, grounding himself upon St. Paul, 
held expressly that the pains of hell fire belonged unto it, 
even in little children, whereunto none of the holy fathers 
contradicted, yet the master of the sentences, with the school- 
men, who follow most of all philosophical reasons, distin- 
guished two kinds of eternal punishments, — one the privation 
only of celestial blessedness, the other a chastisement ; and 
they assigned the first only to original sin. Only Gregory of 
Arimini forsook the general opinion of the schoolmen, who 
by that means gained the name of Tormentor of Children. 
But neither he nor St. Austin was defended by the theo- 
logues in the congregations. Yet there was another division 
among them. For the Dominicans said, that children dead 
without baptism, before the use of reason, remain after the 
resurrection in a limbo and darkness under the earth, but 
without fire ; the Franciscans say, they are to remain upon 
the earth, and in light. Some affirmed also, that they should 

strong and important parties : and its dexterity at least is admirable. 
It applies the epithet immaculate to the Virgin, but not to her concep- 
tion, and refers, as a confirmation, to constitutions of a pontiff, which 
do indeed mention the conception, but the epithet there found is not 
immaculate, but wonderful. It deserves to be added, that in the first 
two editions of the canons, decrees, and acts of the synod, up to the last 
session inclusive, printed at Antwerp and Paris in the same year, 1546, 
this clause is wanting. In the Protestant edition, of the same year, it 
appears, and for the first time. The first papal edition in which it is 
extant is that of Milan, in 1548, which comprehends the seventh session. 
That ever such a doctrine as the immaculate conception of the virgin 
mother of the Incarnate Word, should have been admitted into any creed 
professedly Christian, much more that it should have become the subject 
of eager contention among professed Christians, can only be accounted 
for by reverting to the established appointment of a just and holy Pro- 
vidence, that when men have embraced one atrocious and cardinal error, 
they will be allowed to precipitate themselves into others equal or 
superior in iniquity without limit ; and to the fact, that when the 
blessed Virgin was deified and exalted to an equality with her divine 
Son, it became a natural, if not a necessaiy consequence, in order to 
support and justify this impiety, that the mother should be equaUy and 
in the same respect immaculate with her Son." A valuable dissertation 
on the origin of the worship of the Virgin Mary will be found in Sarpi, 
p. 142 (170, Brent's transl.). On the subject of the immaculate con- 
ception, see the Appendix to Mill's Sermons before the University of 
Cambridge. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



137 



"be philosophers, busying themselves in the knowledge of 
natural things, not without that great pleasure which hap- 
peneth when curiosity is satisfied by invention. Catanius 
said further, that they shall be visited and comforted by the 
holy angels and saints. And in this, so many varieties were 
delivered, that they might give great matter of entertain- 
ment." 1 ' 

This point was, however, left at issue, as a matter apper- 
taining to scholastic disputation, rather than to the business 
of an ecclesiastical synod. Well would it have been had 
many a similar one shared a like fate ! 

It was also universally admitted, that baptism is the true 
and appointed remedy for original sin, whereby man is re- 
stored to the grace and favour of God, and made a child of 
God, and inheritor of the kingdom of heaven ; and it was- 
likewise agreed, that " by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
which is conferred in baptism, the guilt of original sin is 
remitted, and all that which has the true and proper nature 
of sin is taken away. . . And that concupiscence, which the 
apostle sometimes calls sin, has never by the Catholic Church 
been understood to be called sin, as being truly and properly 
sin in those born again, but because it is of sin, and inclines 
to sin." 3 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Congregations on ilie Subject of Reformation. 

W e have already said, that the legates had communicated 
with the pope on the subject of episcopal reformation. 
They had also evinced a desire to pay a just attention to the 
abuses engendered by the system of pluralities and non-resi- 
dence. Before, however, proceeding to the consideration of 
these matters, they determined to treat of certain reforms 
connected with the use of the Scriptures ; the establishment 
of more numerous lectureships on those writings ; and the 
more frequent and efficient preaching of the word of God. 
All these matters had been previously discussed, and much 
real sincerity and honest desire of reform had been displayed 

r Brent's Sarpi, p. 167, sq. 

s Decrees and Canons, p. 23, sq. See Rogers on Article IX. prop, 
iv. p. 46. 



138 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



by many in the in vestigation of existing evils ; but no specific 
decision had been as yet determined on. 

But it is quite certain, even from the partial admittance 
of Pallavicino, that any positive attacks on the existing 
state of things were far from being palatable to the tastes of 
the party favouring the Roman court, and with whom the 
real influence generally lay. For instance, Martelli, the 
bishop of Fiesole, complained that the bishops, after coming 
to Trent at an immense expense, found that their opinions 
had no freedom, but were shut up within the privacy of 
private assemblies ; that the privileges and exemptions given 
to the regulars in their dioceses had the practical effect of 
leaving the ordinaries with the name only, but without the 
office of bishops ; that to the regulars alone was practically 
committed the office of preaching, the confessional, and, in a 
word, nearly the whole ministry and government of the 
churches. He protested earnestly against the decrees now 
brought forward, as calculated to confirm the evils it was 
intended to rectify, and called upon the assembled bishops, 
in the name of Jesus Christ, whose office they were bound 
to sustain upon earth, to vindicate to themselves their pris- 
tine authority, and to resist the violent change which was 
likely to sever the unity of the Church, contrary to all divine 
or human right. He then, turning to the legates, admonished 
them, that two of them had formerly been merely bishops, 
and that it was their duty to exalt, not to diminish, the 
episcopal dignity. t 

The cardinal del Monte replied with much heat ; but Car- 
dinal Pole, in more temperate language, while admitting the 
correctness of some of the charges brought by Martelli, 
reprehended his violence of speech, and pointed out some 
inconsistencies in his arguments. Dispute followed dispute, 
and the unfortunate bishop of Fiesole, whose honesty was 
perhaps greater than his firmness, was forced to apologize for 
what was deemed an act of insult and insubordination to 
head-quarters. 

1 Pallav. vii. 4, 12. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



139 



CHAPTER XXII. 

• The Fifth Session. The Emperor's Intentions become more apparent. 

On the 17th of June, 1546, Alessandro Piccoloniini, bishop 
of Pianza, celebrated mass, and the sermon was preached by 
Marco Laureo, a Dominican friar, and the decrees 11 were 
passed amid some slight dissent on the part of Cardinal 
Pacheco and the bishop of Cava, besides a renewed outcry 
againsb the omission of the " representing" clause. The 
meeting was attended by four cardinals, nine archbishops, 
forty-eight bishops, two abbots, and three generals of reli- 
gious orders. The next session was indicted for the 29th of 
July, but was postponed in consequence of the discussions 
we are about to describe. 

We must not, however, lose sight of the state of affairs in 
Germany. The dissolution of the Diet of Patisbon without 
coming to any terms likely to produce good-feeling, was most 
vexing to the emperor ; and the demands of the Protestant 
party for a national, in preference to a general council — espe- 
cially to oue which, they urged, was not conducted with the 
freedom which had been promised — were equally trouble- 
some. Their faith in the emperor had also become weaker 
than ever, by his reconciliation with the French king, espe- 
cially when it was known that both the pope and the em- 
peror were quietly putting themselves in a condition to 
enforce obedience by the sword. x 

Nor did the decrees of the council give satisfaction. The 
revival of the question respecting the Pelagian doctrines, 
condemned so many hundred years ago, was looked upon as 
an unmeaning superfluity. People argued, that " it had been 

u See Decrees and Canons, pp. 21-9, and Sarpi, p. 173, Brent. It is 
useless to repeat matter already printed in its own proper and complete 
state. 

x Sarpi, p. 172. " And the emperor seeing he was discovered, the 
ninth of June sent the cardinal of Trent post to Rome, to demand of 
the pope the succour he promised, and sent captains with money into 
Italy and Flanders to levy soldiers, and solicited the princes and Pro- 
testant German captains, not combined with those of the League of 
Smalcald, to follow his colours, affirming and promising he would not 
make a war for religion, but suppress the rebellion of some who, under 
that pretence, would not acknowledge the laws nor the majesty of the 
prince." 



140 THE HISTORY OF THE 

tolerable, if the ancient doctrine had been confirmed : that, 
in conformity thereunto, they had well propounded a true 
universal proposition, asserting that the sin of Adam passed 
into all his posterity, but had afterwards destroyed it, by the 
exception made in favour of the Virgin Mary." Moreover, it 
was no defence to say, " that the exception was not assertive, 
but ambiguous ; for as one particular maketh false the con- 
tradictory universal, so one ambiguous particular maketh the 
universal uncertain." 

pir?BJoU lafiJO'iu am oiiiiw ? nottxl)d<{xo ylon gxaj to 9JBga£ 
j&xnot toaiifnoq odd lo bmmmoo 1sh\ $d$, rfdrw hstemaai a»w 
CHAPTER XXIII. 

War declared against the Protestants. 

On the 26th of June, a treaty between the pope and the 
emperor, the terms of which had been previously settled/ 
was concluded at Rome by the cardinal of Trent. It was 
herein declared, that whereas the whole state of Germany 
had, for some years past, been disturbed and shaken by 
various heresies, and that the Protestants, and those united 
in the League of Smalcald, had declared their resolution never 
to submit to the decrees of the general council which had 
been assembled at Trent, with the view of appeasing the 
existing disorders ; it had therefore been resolved, " that the 
emperor's majesty, in the name of the Lord, aided by the 
supplies of his holiness the pope, should lead his whole forces 
against the parties aforesaid, as well as against all heretics of 
whatsoever sect, and should bring them back to the true and 
ancient religion, as well as to obedience to the Apostolic See ; 
that the emperor should not enter into any treaty or terms 
with the Protestants and Smalcald party, and shall permit 
nothing contrary to the Catholic religion and the sanctions 
of the Church, without the express permission of the Apos- 
tolic See or its legate ; that the pope should, in the course of 
one month from the present time, lodge 100,000 crowns with 
the bankers at Venice, to be appropriated, together with the 
like sum already deposited at Augsburg, to the purposes of 
the expedition ; that the pope should also equip and main- 
tain, at his own proper cost, twelve thousand foot, and five 

* See Courayer, p. 334, n. 100. It had, in fact, been begun before* 
at Worms, by Cardinal Farnese. My leading authority for the decree* 
itself is Le Plat, v. iii. p. 434, sqq. Cf. Pallav. viii. 1. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



Ul 



hundred light horse, for six months, and should give the 
emperor, for the present year, half the rents of the churches 
of Spain, as well as power to alienate 300,000 crowns from 
the revenues of the monasteries in Spain and Italy." This 
last proposition gave great offence to the conclave of the 
Vatican. 2 

This document, which left no further room for doubting 
the real disposition of the papal association, received the 
customary subscriptions ; and Cardinal Farnese was chosen 
legate of this " holy " expedition, while his brother Octavius 
was intrusted with the chief command of the pontifical forces. 
Pallavicino confesses that the procession with which they set 
out from Rome, as far as the Flaminian gate, although they 
did not really quit Rome till some days after, shows " that 
i he solemnities attendant on a work, -and the work itself, are 
not always united." a 

At Trent, continues this historip.ii, the legates thought 
that, although war entailed much danger, yet peace left no 
hopes of conciliating Germany ; that death by a hectic fever, 
or by the sword, was the only alternative left in the present 
state of things ; that the council, if confirmed by force of 
arms, would perform its office with a stout heart and a strong 
hand, seeing that it would have a powerful army, as it were 
as the lictors of its tribunal, and Charles the Fifth as the 
executor of the decrees it might pass. 

A few days after the passing of this decree the pope again 
wrote to the Swiss in friendly terms, urging them to perse- 
vere in adherence to the old religion and in obedience to the 
papal see, as well as entreating their attendance at the coun- 
cil, and deploring the neglect thereof on the part of the 
German princes ; " a conduct," he adds, " which has compelled 
Mm to think of force and arms. And because it hath hap- 
pened that the emperor hath made the same resolution, he 
hath been constrained to join with him, and assist him with 
his own and the Church's power, to restore religion by war." b 
2 Pallav. viii. 1. 

a " Secondo il modemo uso del mondo, che la solennita e la sostanza 
delF opere non sogliano andar congiunto." — T. i. p. 661. Dr. Water- 
worth omits all mention of this league, which, in the abridger of Pal- 
la,vicino, seems strange, and scarcely consistent with what impartiality 
-demands. 

b Brent's Sarpi, p. 177. 



142 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



But the emperor, who perhaps felt unwilling to appear to 
be consulting the pontiff's wishes rather than his own, and 
whose real care for religion the reader, perhaps, by this 
time can tolerably well appreciate, — alleged that his motives 
for making war were of a secular character, and calculated 
to vindicate his own authority rather than the offended dig- 
nity of the Church of Rome. Some of the Protestant party, 
on the other hand, laid the whole blame on the pope and the 
council, reminding the emperor of the capitulations which he 
had sworn in Frankfort, when created emperor, and protested 
against the injustice of his present conduct. But the more 
wary class, who did not suffer enthusiasm to blind them to 
the real state of things, felt persuaded that the religious par- 
tisanship of the emperor was but subservient to other inte- 
rests, and avoided disagreement with a prince whose power 
made him at once religiously influential and politically dan- 
gerous. Moreover, as the emperor still remained on friendly 
terms with the archbishop-elector of Cologne, it seems evident 
that he had no intention of sacrificing his interests to his 
obedience, as well as that the pope, in his anxiety to find 
efficient means of putting down the Protestants, was afraid 
to insist upon implicit compliance with all his demands. 

However this may have been, on the 11th of July, the 
elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse published a 
manifesto, declaring that the war was really undertaken in 
the cause of religion, and that the emperor's pretext of 
taking revenge against certain persons for rebellion was but 
a cloak by which he hoped to deceive and disunite the con- 
federate princes, and oppress them by degrees. The conces- 
sions made by the Spanish prelates out of their own revenues 
for the purpose of carrying on the war, confirmed their sus- 
picions, as it seemed unlikely that they would have tolerated 
any reduction of income with the view of promoting a merely 
political expedition. 

CHAPTER XXIY. 

Preparatory Congregations, &c. for the Sixth Session. Doctrine of 
Justification, &c. 

"We now return to the discussions which, previous to the 
remaining part of the year, preceded the sixth session. The 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



143 



plot was beginning to thicken. It was now useless to deny- 
that the secular and the spiritual powers were henceforth 
destined to work together on behalf of Romanism, and that 
the so-called general council, while its decrees in no way- 
tended to conciliate those who had deserted the papal 
standard, was likely to form a rallying point round which the 
defenders of the old system would collect their forces, alike 
prepared for resistance and for offence. But although the 
ma^k was now thrown off, and anything like even a desire to 
unite with the Protestant party seemed, under present cir- 
cumstances, almost preposterous, the business of the council 
proceeded with considerable spirit ; and, where the desire of 
reform was wanting as a motive, the wish utterly to proscribe 
the doctrines of the reformists, and, at all events, to anathe- 
matize upon prescript whatever it was difficult to prove by 
argument, was a sufficient stimulus to the minds of a set of 
men as various in abilities and disposition as they were (with 
but few exceptions) consistent in bigotry. 

In a congregation held on the 21st c of June, 1546, the 
first legate being absent, from indisposition, Cardinal Cervini 
proposed the subject of justification as the one to be now 
considered by the assembly, and at the same time recom- 
mended that the question of reform respecting episcopal 
residence should be deferred until the impediments to the 
enforcing of residenca could be considered. Cardinal Pole 
observed that this article would be most aptly connected 
with the one touching original sin. which they had just 
determined in the previous council : seeing that, whereas by 
that it was ascertained what loss the human race had sus- 
tained in the first Adam, by this it might be known how the 
good things lost might be recovered in the second. He 
exhorted them to bestow attention proportioned to the 
intricacy of the subject, and diligently to study the books of 
their adversaries, not with the determination to find that 

c Father Paul says the 18th. It is probable that a, private congrega- 
tion may have then been held, but that the affairs in question were 
discussed, as Pallavicino states, in the general one held on the 21st. 
Father Paul states, that on the 18th, the secretary read a writing 
framed by the chief theologians, on this subject, but that it met with 
some objection from the bishop of the emperor's party. Supposing this 
took place in a private congregation, it might well be wanting in the 
acts seen by Pallavicino. 



144 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" because Luther says this, therefore is it false/' but carefully 
to sift the truth from amidst the falsities with which it wa»s 
the policy of heretics to ertwrap it. d 

Cardinal Pacheco then suggested, that as in the considera- 
tion of justification they were destitute of the authority not 
only of ancient scholastic divines, but likewise of councils, 
and as the assembly of Trent was consequently called upon 
to determine on this delicate subject by its own resources, he 
recommended that the theologians should first submit the 
various points of the matter to private discussion, until they 
should have fairly considered every head : when these were 
collected together, and properly arranged, they might be 
considered by the public congregation with greater advantage 
both in point of distinctness and expedition. He also th ought 
it advisable that another party should be employed in con- 
sidering the question of residence, and concluded by lamenting 
that, where business of so arduous and responsible a nature 
was being transacted, so far from receiving an accession to 
their scanty numbers, Trent became more and more deserted 
•every day. Furthermore, with just sarcasm, he condemned 
the conduct of those, who, after absenting themselves through- 
out the debates, did not hesitate to pronounce their sanction 
and give their vote respecting matters of which they had 
heard nothing. He then proposed, that no one should be 
permitted to leave Trent without permission, and that the 
legates might be at liberty to grant leave of absence for the 
space of ten or fifteen days ; but that leave for a longer period 
should only be given by the synod. 6 

d Sarpi gives the arguments, brought forward on the 18th, as follows : 
— " Having undertaken from the beginning to oppugn the indul- 
gences, Martin saw he could not obtain his purpose, except he destroyed 
the works of repentance, in defect whereof indulgences do succeed ; and 
justification by faith only, a thing never heard of before, seemed to him 
a good means to effect this • from whence he hath collected not only that 
good works are not necessary, but also that a dissolute liberty in ob- 
serving the law of God and of the Church will serve the turn : hath 
denied emcacy in the sacraments, authority of priests, purgatory, 
sacrifice of the mass, and all other remedies for remission of sins. 
Therefore, by a contraiy way, he that will establish the body of the 
Catholic doctrine must overthrow this heresy of justice by faith only, 
and condemn the blasphemies of that enemy of good works."— P. 17& 

e Pallav. viii. 8. Dr. Waterworth really gives little idea of Pal- 



COY>:CIL OF TRENT. 



145 



It was answered, that the legates had given no snch 
permission, but that the prelates had left of their own accord 
— a fact satisfactorily proving the forced character of the 
whole proceeding, and the little real interest felt in it by 
those who formed its constituents. Cardinal Pacheco's pro- 
posal for enforcing then stay was carried into effect, and the 
assembly became, like a shut-up jury, forced to debate and 
pronounce upon matters, sometimes without thought, some- 
times against their conscience, — the fear of the delay result- 
ing from further discussion being a sufficient silence to the 
scruples of those, who were already worn out with the tedious 
length of a council which seemed to be giving little satisfac- 
tion to any of the parties concerned in its convocation, while, 
as an anti-Protestant measure, its failure seemed getting 
every day more and more obvious. 1 

In regard to the subject proposed for discussion, the follow- 
ing propositions were propounded : — 

h What is justification, both as regards the signification 
of the word, and the essence of the thing signified : and 
what is meant, when a man is said to be justified ? 

2. What are the causes of justification : i.e. What does 
God effect, and what is required on the part of man to bring 
about that end ? 

3. How must we understand that saying of the apostle, 
that man is justified by faith ?s 

4. Whether, and in what manner, works coming before, 
or after, justification, appertain thereunto; and what relation 
the sacraments possess to the same \ 

5. What precedes, accompanies, and follows justification ? 

6. On what authority do the doctrines rest which are to 

lavicino's fidelity, by his constant habit of suppressing whatever that 
historian says unfavourable to the character of the Tridentine proceed- 
ings. Suppression of facts which make against one's own prejudice*, is 
at least the next offence to misstatement, and is even more dangerous, 
because much less easily perceived and corrected. 

f A vote of censure had already been passed, condemning the conduct 
of the absentees. Cf. Le Plat, v. iii. p. 427, sqq. 

£ Rom. iii. 24. 28, Cf. Decrees and Canons, Sess. vi. ch. viii. I 
must again remind my reader that the learned " Examen" of Chemnitz, 
the contents of which are far too voluminous to be even abridged in 
these pages, will be found a valuable commentary on all the doctrinal 
matters in the Tridentine sessions. 

L 



146 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



be confirmed ; is it on that of Scripture, councils, fathers, or 
of apostolical tradition? 11 

As to the first of these heads, all agreed that justification 
is the transition from a state of enmity with God, to that of 
a friend and adopted son of God. Touchiug its nature, its 
formal cause was held to be charity, or grace infused into the 
soul. Mazzochio, however, a Servite, followed an opinion, 
ascribed to Peter of Lombardy : that the divine grace is not 
an inward thing within us, but the outward presence and 
assistance of the Holy Spirit. He also, in common with 
a few others, held that free will, in the case of the person to 
be justified, concurs passively, not actively. 

The same party of theologians, with one other follower, 
differed from the unanimous opinion of the rest concerning 
the third point proposed — holding that man is said to be 
justified by faith, inasmuch as he firmly believes that he will 
receive pardon of his sins through the merits of J esus Christ. 
The rest united in asserting, that man is justified by faith, 
not as its proximate and efficient cause, but as its first pre- 
paration, and, as it were, root, necessary to lead to the 
proximate actions whereby justification is obtained ; that, if 
we speak of the efficient cause, man is justified by faith 
accompanied by penance and baptism ; if of the formal 
cause, it is faith animated by charity and sanctifying grace. 

"With the same exceptions, 1 it was unanimously decided, 
that works going before justification do only merit justifica- 
tion de congruo ; k i.e. as tending to our justification by a 

h Pallav. viii. 4. His order of narrative is strangely irregular, and I 
have followed Dr. Waterworth in describing the following particulars 
in their historical order, not in that of their historian's treatment. 

* These few approximated to the Reformists, in their low estimate of 
the value of works in man's justification. 

k See Rogers on Art. XIII. prop. 2, p. 62. His work is generally 
valuable for its copious comparative references to the Tridentine decrees 
and to the confessions of the various Reformed churches. The follow- 
ing statement of our own views by Bishop Beveridge may be useful : — 
" And hence it is here said that there is nothing that we do before we 
receive grace can make us meet to receive grace, or as the schoolmen 
say, ' deserve grace of congruity ;' that is, we can do nothing for which 
it is so much as meet that God should bestow anything upon us, as we 
cannot do anything which it is just God should reward, and so deserve 
grace of congruity, so neither can we do anything which it is fit or meet 
God should reward, and so deserve grace of congruity. So that God 



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147 



certain fitness or congruity ; but that works done after 
justification, and therefore by the divine grace, and acquiring 
greater power from the merits of Christ, whose living mem- 
ber the righteous man is, preserve and increase de cmgmxt 
the grace that has been received. 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Further Discussions concerning Jnstification. 

On the last day of June the result of the previous dis- 
cussions was laid before a general congregation, and the first 
legate, now convalescent, expressed his opinion that, from 
the decisions come to by the theologians, it seemed advisable 
to divide the subject-matter into three heads, as follows : — 

1. " How are the merits of Christ to be applied to those 
who embrace his faith ; and what grace do they afterwards 
deserve 1 

2. " What is to be done by a Christian in order to pre- 
serve the divine grace vouchsafed to him ? 

3. " What ought to be done by him who has lost the 
grace once received from God % Can he obtain strength to 
recover it, and in what manner 1 And wherein is this second 
justification like, or unlike, the first ?" 

This proposed division was approved by all present, except 
Pelargus, bishop of Treves, who thought it advisable that 
free will should also be made the subject of discussion, the 
assent thereof being, in adults, essential to justification. 

It was also determined that no form of a decree should be 
drawn up by the theologians, until the matters discussed, 
and the result of their deliberations, had been laid before the 
fathers. This was done, partly out of respect to the judges, 
partly because it was thought easier to commence the work 

should not do what is unmeet and unfitting to be done, though he never 
reward any of the works of even rational men. And the reason is 
clearly here asserted — because they have all the nature of sin. And if 
they have the nature of sin and iniquity, certainly they cannot deserve 
grace of congruity. So that it cannot be meet that God should reward 
them, nay it is rather meet he should not reward them. Nay it is 
not only meet he should not reward them, but it is meet and just too 
that he should punish them ; justice requiring sin to be punished, as 
well as virtue to be rewarded ; and therefore if thy works be sins, they 
cannot in justice be rewarded, but punished." On Art. XIII. p. 309. 

L 2 



Hi 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



anew, tlian to patch up the old. It was also resolved, that 
each individual point should be put to the vote; not all 
collectively. At the same time, twenty-three propositions, 
selected from the writings of Luther, Zwingle, Pelagius, and 
other heretics, were read, and placed before the assembly for 
consideration. 1 

My limits will not allow me to enter into even a sketch 
of the disputes which, in almost daily congregations, took 
place on the difficult subject in question. Nor is it easy to 
reconcile the loose memoranda which seem to have fallen 
into the hands of different writers. Generally speaking, 
JPallavicino's 1 " attention to chronological arrangement gives 
us a clearer idea of the progress of the discussions, while 
Father Paul 11 is more circumstantial in his details of parti- 
cular speeches and arguments. I feel the less regret in 
avoiding a minute statement of these disputes, as the results 
of them are set before us in the Decrees and Canons promul- 
gated at this session; and although the task of reviewing the 
different steps, by which men gradually reached those con- 
clusions, is both curious and interesting, its general utility, 
as regards a popular treatise, may fairly be questioned. 

When the first point proposed for discussion had been 
thoroughly examined, it was determined, in the general con- 
gregation held on July 15th, to appoint four deputies to 
draw up a decree expressing the sentiments of the fathers 
on the subject. The votes were given in secret, and the 
choice fell upon the archbishop of Armagh, and the bishops 
of Acci, Bitonto, and Belcastro. ^ r.v , ! T 

1 These propositions are divided into three heads in Le Plat, v. HI. 
p. 433, sq., who, however, only reckons twenty-two. Sarpi, ii. p. 115, 
sq. reckons twenty-five, but without any division, and avowedly taken 
from the writings of Luther only. 

m See viii. 4. 

n See ii. pp. 152-S, Latin ed. ; Courayer, p. 344, sqq., who well 
observes : " Nos deux historiens rapportent assez diversement les avis 
des the'ologiens. Mais comment ils ne le font que par extrait, il n'est 
pas etonnant que chacun d'eux ait fait ces sortes d'extraits conforme- 
ment a ses idees, ce qui produit toujours une assez grande difference." 

° Just about this time the following untoward event occurred : — " On 
the 17th of July, at a general congregation, the occupations of the 
fathers were unseasonably, and not very decorously, interrupted by a, 
corporal altercation between two of its most reverend members. At 
the close of the meeting, the bishop of Chiron, approaching the bishop 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



149 



CHAPTER XXYI. 

Progress of the War. Alarm at Trent. 

Meanwhile, the pope and the emperor had been at ope& 
variance respecting the avowed motives of the war they had 
undertaken. The latter, still bent upon maintaining the 
political character of his motives, published an edict against 
the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse, in which 
he charged them with having constantly hindered his de- 
signs: given way to disobedience and conspiracy; and, under 
pretext of religion, seized upon bishoprics and other means 
of wealth. He therefore proscribed them as rebels guilty of 
high treason, absolved their nobility and people from obe- 
dience to them, and desired that none might venture to 
assist them. 

The princes proceeded to arm in their defence, and in the 
month of June, 1546, they took the field with 70,000 foot 
and 15,000 horse, and, had their proceedings been decisive, 
they might have rid themselves of their crafty and danger- 
ous enemy. But the division of command was fatal to their 
chances of success; when one was disposed for battle, the 
other was against it. Thus they lost their opportunity, and 
gave the emperor ample time to gather his forces together ; 
their own resources were getting exhausted, whilst the impe- 
rial forces were daily augmenting. No particular action, 
however, ensued during the summer, although the two armies 
were frequently in sight of each other.? 

But if the war undertaken against the Protestants was, at 
present, little active in its effects upon the state of Ger- 
many — its influence was felt with no small disadvantage at 
Trent. Whether the poj^e was really tired out with the coun- 

of Cava, told him, that he could not clear himself of great ignorance or 
great impudence in what he had advanced ; upon -which, the individual 
addressed, seizing the beard of the offender with both his hands, extracted 
some of the hair. It was necessary for the authorities to interfere in 
such a case of violence and indignity, and the over-hasty prelate was 
sentenced to incarceration in the monastery of St. Bernardino. He was 
shortly released, but forbidden to return to the council, and ordered to 
Eome to obtain absolution of the pontiff." — Massarelli, in Mendham, 

p Mosheim, vi. cent. xvi. ch. iv. Burnet's Reformation, pt. ij, bk. i. 

p. 3055 etdi ^aido&oiqqr, : ; y 



150 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



cil, or not, it is certain that little short of absolute compul- 
sion kept the members thereof at Trent. Even in the synod 
held on the 15th of July, above mentioned, attempts were 
made to transfer or break up the council, and Cardinal Cer- 
vini struggled so hard to procure its dismission, that the 
emperor charged an ambassador to tell him, that, " in this, if 
he did cross his majesty, he would cause him to be thrown 
into the river Adige."^ The pope, who could neither please 
himself, the emperor, nor the council, was obliged to content 
himself with a compromise. While he persisted, contrary 
to the emperor's desire, in treating conjointly of doctrine as 
well as reformation, he at the same time desired the legates to 
postpone the session. Accordingly, on the 25th of July the 
session was deferred until a time hereafter to be intimated, 
and the congregations intermitted for fifteen days. The 
appearance, first of the Protestant army near the Tyrol, 
and the subsequent arrival of the Italian troops, under the 
command of Ottavio Farnese, were the cause of much terror 
and inconvenience to the assembly; and save a little talking 
at private meetings, the business of the council remained at 
a stand-still till the middle of August. It is difficult to 
reconcile the listless apathy, the countless attempts to evade 
or escape from the duties of the office, and the subterfuges, 
in which even the pretext of ill health was made to bear 
& part/ — which distinguished the conduct of the Tridentine 

9 Brent's Sarpi, p. 190. Cf. Courayer, p. 361 ; Pallav. viii. 15. The 
latter author candidly confesses himself at a loss to understand why the 
assembled prelates and legates were so anxious to get away from Trent. 

r " On the 23rd of July was announced the arrival of the Cardinal Far- 
nese ; he was on his way to Germany, but was detained at Rovoreto by 
a fever. The object of his journey was to join Ottavio Farnese, who 
had the command of the papal army. The cardinal wished to have had 
the cross carried before him, and to have published indulgences, as 
legate of the army against the Lutherans ; but the emperor would not 
consent ; in consequence of which the cardinal retired to Ratisbon, pre- 
tending to be ill, and transmitted an account of the affair to the pope, 
his grandfather, at Rome." — Mendham, p. 84. In the same place will 
he found some most important extracts, tending to show the vio- 
lence of the disturbances which hindered the progress of the council. 
By way of illustrating the compulsory situation of the assembly, I will 
observe that letters are mentioned by Mendham, p. 88, sq. bearing dates 
from the 20th to the 26th of August inclusive, which are " strongly 
expressive of the perplexity in which the legates found themselves. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



151 



assembly — with the characteristics of a council, working 
under the immediate influence of the Holy Ghost, guided 
by integrity, and claiming infallibility. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Further Proceedings respecting Justification. 

To return to the business of the council — the document 
presented by the prelates on the 24th of July, as the result 
of their united labours, proved little satisfactory. It was 
distinguished neither for brevity nor clearness, and was 
intrusted to Seripando ; who, after having with great learn- 
ing drawn up a statement, somewhat tinctured with peculiar 
views of his own, on the subject of justification, was destined 
in turn to find his own writing so changed by the opinions 
of others, that he could not recognise it as his own. He held 
" that the faith, upon which man's justification depended, 
not only is its beginning, but its most certain cause ; and 
that by such a faith in the Redeemer the Redeemer's 
merits are applied to us. Furthermore, that there is a 
twofold righteousness : one intrinsic, which he again di- 
vided into two kinds; the former being that, whereby we 
become friends, instead of enemies, of God, and that this is 

They and the whole company began to feel the effects of the unholy 
league into which their sovereign and the imperial one had entered, for 
the subjection and destruction of Protestantism, and probably all the 
parties flattered themselves that it would be a matter not of contest but 
of certainty. In this they were disappointed ; and the legates com- 
plained, that it was idle to talk of the distance of the war, when they 
saw troops passing and repassing. The bishops were naturally terrified. 
Instead of being able to retain them in their place until October, which 
was suggested, it was doubtful whether they could be kept there more 
than eight or ten days. Themselves were sons of obedience, said the 
legates, and only waited the clear commands of their master ; but they 
were men, and wished for an early intimation of their fate, or that suc- 
cessors might be appointed them, instead of being coolly forbidden to 
innovate." So much for Tridentine freedom ! 

" On the 10th of September the legates wrote that they kept labour- 
ing at the article of justification : but add, still harping upon the one 
great question to them, that if the council is to continue where it was 
till October, they must beg to represent themselves as incapable 
(inhabili), partly from indisposition and partly from remorse of con- 
science. On the 20th, they affirm that they had put the last hand to 
the article, still urging the translation of the council." — Mendham, p. 9 



152 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



given us with the grace infused by baptism ; the latter, 
whereby man is said to live righteously, which results from 
the acts of virtue proceeding from the aforesaid grace. The 
second kind of righteousness he held to be outward, and to 
consist in the righteousness and merits of the Redeemer^ 
imputed to us by the divine mercy as if they were our own, 
not indeed wholly, but to such an extent, and for such 
effects, as seemeth good unto G-od." s These opinions met 
with but little favour from the assembled theologians, as 
but five gave their assent thereunto. Nevertheless, the 
many delays, both external, and resulting from the intricate 
nature of the subject, served to protract this disputation to 
an unreasonable extent, and it was not until the conclusion of 
the year that the question was settled, even amongst the 
select committees that preceded the session. 

It cannot be denied that Cervini, despite his anxiety to 
get away from Trent, laboured earnestly to draw up docu- 
ments likely to compose differences among the rival sects of 
the Romish Church. So lax were the definitions given 
concerning this doctrine, that neither Dominican nor Fran- 
ciscan had the slightest difficulty in twisting them to suit 
his own views, a fact which the published commentaries on 
this subject satisfactorily evince. 1 

In the last congregation, held on the loth of November, 
Cardinal Pacheco and a few others proposed certain altera- 
tions calculated to render the document still more accom- 
modated to the dissensions of the schoolmen, and more 
earnest in its condemnation of the tenets advanced by 
Luther. In fact, on this head, there was an unanimity 
of feeling that contrasted strangely with the many irregu- 
larities and variances of the council upon other points. 

.SSO/jjgJJu OY&Oi 0$ 18&tS0 BBW ii dfiflC! t J>9bjjlOIfOQ 

9gb d'guQ'utt b^Bo-iaammoo /moq ed$ "io eobrb& affcTdA 
CHAPTER XXYIII. 

Controversies respecting Residence. 

In the present day, it will be a cause of pain to all sincere 
Christians, to reflect that the objections long since directed 
against the desertion of flocks by their shepherd, the incom- 



s Pallav. viii. ii. 4, 5. 



* Sarpi, p. 202 (Brent). 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



153 



petent administration of many districts through the non- 
residence consequent on the unapostolic system of pluralities, 
are still but too applicable to the Reformed Church. Sad it 
is to confess, that the charge of avarice, which once awoke the 
voice of Luther to its denunciation, can still be rebutted 
against our own church, the same taunts against largely-paid 
sinecurists, which even the ingenious sophistry and wondrous 
wit of a Sydney Smith could not defend — the doing of God's 
work by other mens hands — -that these are evils against 
which we have so often declaimed, and done so little to 
rectify. In reading the measures of reformation proposed 
at Trent on this head, we cannot, despite the violent 
opposition displayed on many occasions, deny the existence 
of much disinterested and honourable desire of improvement, 
even where personal sacrifice was involved, and we can but 
regret that, at so late a period of history, the proportionate 
movement in our own church should have been so tardy and 
so imperfect. 

In the earlier discussions on the subject of reformation, it 
was proposed to enumerate the qualifications necessary for 
the promotion of the greater prelates and ministers of the 
Church. "And very grave sayings," says Father Paul, u 
u were delivered with great ostentation ; but there was no 
way found how those things whereof they spoke might be 
observed. For where the kings have their presentation, 
they saw not with what bonds to tie them : where election 
hath place, the chapter doth consist of great and mighty 
persons : for the residue, all dignities are conferred by the 
pope, and more than two-thirds of the benefices are reserved 
to the Apostolic See, unto which it is not fit to prescribe a 
law. Whereupon, after many and long discourses, it was 
concluded, that it was better to leave the business." 

At the advice of the pope, communicated through the 
legate Del Monte, the question as to whether residence was 
of divine right, was but slightly alluded to in the proceedings 
of this session, ostensibly with the view of preventing the 
progress of the council being retarded by trivial and un- 
satisfactory disputes. While Caietan and others had held 

u See bis useful and entertaining dissertation on the whole subject^ 
p. 171, sqq. Lat. ; p. 203, sqq. Brent. 



154 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



that the obligation of residence cometh of the law of God ; 
and while one party urged the obligation as springing from 
the spiritual, others from the ecclesiastical, law, Catarinus, the 
Dominican, held that the popedom is the only bishopric 
established by Christ, but that the institution of other orders 
is by the pope, who, " as he divideth the quantity and num- 
ber of the sheep to be fed, so he prescribeth also the manner 
and quality. Therefore it belongeth to the pope to appoint 
«every bishop to attend the flock, by himself, or by his sub- 
stitute, and may allot unto him either much or little, and 
deprive him also of the power of feeding. Campeggio, on 
the contrary, pleaded for non-residence, on the grounds that 
the bishop is of Christ's institution, but not so the dominion 
of bishoprics ; that Christ gave the charge of feeding to all 
the disciples, but tied them not to a place, as the Acts of the 
Apostles, and of their disciples, do show." 

It was declared, after various discussions, that prelates 
should be obliged to reside in their own dioceses, and the 
ancient canonical penalties were revived, and others imposed, 
against defaulters in this respect ; that all persons entrusted 
with cure of souls should be similarly bound by their 
ordinaries ; and that, even if a temporary absence were 
granted them, the bishop, as delegate of the apostolic see, 
should be empowered to appoint a vicar as a substitute, with 
a competent salary paid out of the revenues of the benefice ; 
that all irregularities of conduct on the part of secular priests, 
and of regulars living away from their monasteries, should 
be taken cognizance of and punished by the ordinaries ; that 
the exemptions enjoyed by chapters should be abrogated ; 
and that no bishop, under pain of suspension, should exer- 
cise any pontifical function in the diocese of another, without 
his express permissions 

x See Decrees and Canons, p. 47, sq. As a specimen of the influence 
exercised by the legates upon the council, take the following : — " On 
the 6th of November we have a letter which, while it represents the 
politics of the two rival sovereigns on the subject, strongly represents 
the value which the legates put upon the privilege which they had 
assumed, and hitherto without contradiction, of proposing the subjects 
to be discussed in the congregations. Upon the question of suspension, 
they affirm, that they have the majority, that is, the Italian prelates, on 
their side, and wish to know from his holiness whether they should 
propose it, since the proposal from any bishop would not be allowed. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



155 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Success of the Emperors Amis in Germany. 

While the above matters were in progress, the armies of 
the emperor were destined to meet with a success which 
earlier activity on the part of the Protestant princes might 
have prevented. The pope, thinking that it was scarcely 
creditable for an apostolic legate to remain in Ratisbon, 
whilst his soldiers were in the field, recalled Cardinal Farnese; 
and he accordingly set out, accompanied by a number of 
Italian gentlemen belonging to the papal troops. In the 
middle of October, the two armies came so near to each 
other, that there was but a little river between them. A 
detachment of Italians and Dutch, ^sent by the emperor, 
under the command of Ottavio Farnese, took Donavert in 
sight of the enemy. In November, the states belonging to 
the imperial faction made a great attack upon Saxony and 
Hesse ; and the governors of those places were obliged to 
hasten to the defence of their own states, leaving Upper 
Germany at the emperor's discretion. " At first, the fortunes 
of Charles had seemed utterly desperate; but he stood firm 
in the most perilous circumstances. In the fall of the year 
1546, he saw all Upper Germany in his hands ; cities and 
princes vied in submitting to him : the moment seemed 
come when the Protestant party might be wholly put down 
in Germany, and the whole north again made Catholic." y 

Great was the vexation of the pope at the present success 
of the emperor, especially as the latter — too often himself 
deceived to be willing to make the smallest sacrifices to his 
papal ally — persisted in disclaiming all idea of having under- 
taken a war on religious grounds, and by an affectation of 
tolerance at once strengthened his own interest, and under- 
mined that of the Roman see. The pope retaliated by 
withdrawing his forces, and depriving the emperor of any 
further supplies from the churches in Spain. 

'We,' they add, 'having, in an especial manner, always kept this rod 
of office firm in our hands, to let no one invade our office of proposing. 
We do not therefore think that the affair can succeed, except we our- 
selves, with a flag on the mast, according to the proverb, propose it.'" — 
Mendham, p. 93, sq. 
y Ranke's Popes, p. 66. 



156 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Utterly shaken in any faith which might have still 
attached him to the emperor, Paul III. now felt anxious to 
turn the council into a means of aggression, and to weaken 
the influence of Charles with the Protestants, by hastening 
the passing of measures likely to be unpopular, and of which 
the emperor, from the interest he had previously displayed 
in the council, would bear the chief reproach. It will here- 
after be seen, that the pope was strangely destined to become 
the indirect friend of the Protestants; but at present his 
hope seems to have been, that "to separate the council was 
too violent and scandalous a remedy, especially having con- 
tinued seven months in a treaty, whereof nothing was 
published." He therefore preferred " to publish the things 
already digested, seeing that by that declaration, either the 
Protestants would refuse to go thither ; or if they went, 
would be constrained to accept it ; wherein the principal 
point of all the controversies consisting, the victory would 
be his own ; and if there were no other reasons to do it, this 
was sufficient to prove it was good for him, because the 
emperor would not have any controversies decided. For the 
counsels of those who have contrary ends ought to be con- 
trary. He saw well that the emperor would take it for an 
affront. But the distastes between them were already so 
great, that little could be added to them ; and the pope, when 
he was pressed with reasons, which did persuade, and dissuade, 
was wont to use the Florentine saying, ( A thing done hath 
an head/ and so to execute that which was necessary. 
Therefore he wrote to the legates in Christmas, that they 
should hold a session and publish the decrees already 
framed." 2 orifiv 08 9iaw aiadid 

CHAPTER XXX. 
The Sixth Session is celehrated. 

Accordingly, on the 13th of January, 1547, the session 
was opened with the accustomed solemnities, the mass being 
chanted by Andrea Cornaro, archbishop of Spalatro, and the 
sermon preached by Tommasio Stella, bishop of Salpi. 

As usual, the session was but the confirmation of docu- 
ments already agreed upon in the private congregations, and 



z Brent's Sr*rpi, p. 209. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



157 



the decrees touching justification were proposed and agreed 
to with universal assent, with the following exceptions. 
Yigerio, bishop of Sinigaglia, objected to the decree as being 
defective in its manner of treating on faith, and the mercy 
of God ; at the same time stating, that, as regards the doc- 
trine of being in a state of grace, he approved of the decree, 
in so far as it was confined to the condemnation of the 
opinions of heretics, as had been stated in the congregations. 
On the other hand, Balthazar, bishop of Bossa, wished that 
the words touching the certainty of being in grace should 
be transferred to the fourteenth canon, a and an anathema be 
thus declared against the heretical doctrine. A few bishops 
also revived the favourite objection to the omission of the 
" representing" claused 

But the questions of reformation were far less easily 
settled. In fact, if we bear in mind that the simultaneous 
consideration of this class of questions had been rather a 
concession to the emperor than a voluntary measure on the 
part of the papal see — nay, that the pope had even expressed 
his disapprobation at such a concession on the part of the 
legates, we cannot be surprised that, in proportion as the 
coldness between the two had increased, the pontiff, ruling, 
as he did, the whole proceedings of the council, should have 
been little disposed to use his influence in favour of measures 
so agreeable to the emperor. Again, many contending 
interests, lay and clerical, were mixed up with almost every 
point that became the subject of this discussion ; and when a 
written, instead of a verbal, statement of opinions was asked 
for by the legates, they found that the sentiments of the 
fathers were so various, that it was thought advisable to 
defer the consideration of them till another opportunity. 

" It may be mentioned here," says Dr. Waterworth, " that, 
in the congregation held on the 25th of February, it ap- 
peared after examination that the decrees as proposed had 
been approved of by a majority, and they were accordingly 
declared to have the sanction of the council." 

The next session was then indicted for the 3rd of March, 
and the contumacy of the absent prelates having been noted, 
1 bf*£ ^aoita^o-rg rjoo 9*evhq eifo m xioqu boe-ip* vlxs^ta rtmai 



a See "Decrees a.nd Canons," p. 44 of my translation. 
b Pallav. viii. 18, c P. cix. 



158 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



it was determined to proceed against them according to the 
penalties allowed by the canons, with the exception of the 
German bishops, who were shown to be lawfully impeded. 
To restrain the recreant prelates, command was also given, 
that none should leave Trent before the next session. 

At this council there were present four cardinals, ten 
archbishops, and forty-five bishops, Claude le Jay and Pelar- 
gus, as proctors of the bishop of Strasburg and of the arch- 
bishop of Treves, two abbots, and five generals of orders. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

1 Preliminary Congregations to the Seventh Session. Of the Sacraments. 

In the first general congregation, held on the 15th of 
January, 1547, two days after the preceding session, it was 
determined that the sacraments be next treated of, as being 
the means appointed by God for the acquisition, preserva- 
tion, and increase of justification, and the means whereby, 
if lost, it is recovered ; and that the subject of reformation, 
especially with reference to the impediments to episcopal 
residence, should also receive attention. Some attempt was 
made to revive the " representing" clause, but it was over- 
weighed, chiefly by the influence of Del Monte. 

On the 17th, it was agreed that the private congregations 
on faith should be held in the presence of the legate Cervini, 
and those on reformation before Del Monte. d Cervini then 
read the errors, which had been extracted from the writings 
of the reformers, on the subject of the sacraments, indi- 
vidually and collectively, which were to form the subject of 
examination during the preliminary meetings. A similar 
list of the alleged impediments to residence was also read by 
the other legate. 

As the Catholic doctrine respecting the sacraments was 
held to be satisfactorily defined by the council of Lateran, it 
was thought sufficient to condemn the errors of the so-called 
heretics. Accordingly, a copy of the following propositions 
was given to each of the divines assembled, and they were 
directed to say whether, in their opinion, all or any of them 

d The other legate, Cardinal Pole, had resigned his office, in conse- 
quence of ill-health. 



COUNCIL OF TREXT. 



159 



deserved to be condemned by the synod ; " and if any de- 
served not that sentence, they should allege their reasons 
and authority ; and afterwards should declare what had been 
the opinion of councils, and of the holy fathers, in all those, 
and which of the articles have been reproved already, and 
which remain to be condemned." 

The propositions 6 were as follows : — 

Touching the sacraments in general, there were four- 
teen : — 

1. That the sacraments of the Church are more or less 
than seven. 

2. That the sacraments are not necessary ; and that grace 
may be obtained by man without them, by faith alone. 

3. That one sacrament is not more worthy than another. 

4. That the sacraments of the new law do not confer 
grace on those even who do not place any obstacle to their 
operation. 

3. That neither grace, nor the remission of sins, was ever 
given by the sacraments \ but by faith alone in the sacra- 
ment. 

6. That immediately after Adam's fall "God instituted the 
sacraments, by which grace was given. 

7. That by the sacraments grace is given only to those 
who believe that their sins are remitted. 

8. That grace is noi given in the sacraments, always, and 
to all men, in as far as the sacrament is of God ; but only 
when, and where God pleases. 

9. That there is no sacrament in which a character is 
imprinted. 

10. That an evil minister does not confer sacraments. 

11. That all Christians, of either sex, have power to 
administer the word, and the sacrament. 

12. That each pastor may enlarge, abridge, and change, as 
he pleases, the forms of the sacraments. 

13. That the intention of the minister is not necessary, 
neither has it any effect in the sacraments. 

14. That the sacraments were only instituted to nourish 
faith. 

Touching baptism, there were seventeen : — 



e See Le Plat, v. hi. p. 502; Sarpi, p. 185, sqq. 



160 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



1. That there is no true baptism in the Roman Catholic 
Church. 

2. That baptism is free, and not necessary unto salva- 
tion. 

3. That when conferred by heretics it is no true baptism, 
and should therefore be repeated. 

4. That baptism is penitence. 

5. That baptism is but an outward sign, like the red 
mark stamped on sheep, and is of no avail in justification. 

6. That baptism ought to be renewed. 

7. That true baptism is that faith whereby it is believed 
that sins are remitted to the penitent. 

8. That by baptism sin is not utterly removed, but only 
not imputed. 

9. That the baptism of John had the same efficacy as 
that of Christ. 

10. That the baptism of Christ did not make that of 
John of non-effect, but only added a promise to it. 

11. That in baptism immersion alone is necessary, all 
other ceremonies are free, that is, may be omitted without 
sin. 

12. That it is better not to baptize infants, than to bap- 
tize them when incapable of believing. 

13. That infants ought not to be baptized, because they 
have no actual faith of their own. 

14. That those baptized in infancy ought to be rebaptized 
upon coming to years of discretion ; because they had not 
faith. 

15. That they who were baptized when infants ought to 
be asked, upon coming to riper years, whether they will 
ratify their baptism ; and, if they refuse to ratify it, they 
are to be left to their free choice. 

1G. That sins committed after baptism are forgiven by 
the sole remembrance and faith of the baptism any one has 
received. 

17. That the baptismal vow has no other condition save 
that of faith, and makes all other vows of non-effect. 
Touching confirmation there were four : — 

1. That confirmation is not a sacrament. 

2. That it was instituted by the fathers, and has no pro- 
mise of the divine grace. 



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161 



3. That it is now a useless ceremony; and was formerly 
nothing but a catechism, in which children, in the face of the 
Church, made a profession, and gave an account of their faith. 

4. That a bishop is not the only minister of confirmation, 
but any priest. 

But the private congregations were not confined to these 
subjects ; since we find, that on the 3rd of February, a con- 
gregation of the minor theologians was held, and that they 
then began to examine certain heretical articles on the eu- 
charist. They were ten in number. It was, it should seem, 
expected that this, as well as the two preceding sacraments, 
would be settled at the ensuing session; which was, however, 
not the case. The examination was, nevertheless, pursued 
in succeeding congregations before that session. The articles, 
as given in Mendham's summary, are the following:- — 1st, 
" That in the eucharist there is not truly the body and blood of 
Christ, but only as in a sign, in the same manner as wine is 
said to be in the sign of an inn ; 2nd, That Christ is there 
exhibited, but spiritually only, to be eaten by faith ; 3rd, 
That the body and blood are together with (simul cum) the 
substance of the bread and wine, so that there is no tran sub- 
stantiation, but a hypostatic union of the humanity and the 
substance of bread and wine ; 4th, That Christ is not to be 
adored or venerated with festivals in the eucharist, nor to be 
carried about in processions,' nor brought to the sick, and 
that the adorers of the host are real idolaters ; 5th, That the 
eucharist is not to be kept in the sacrarium, but to be eaten 
at the same time, and given to those present, and that those 
who do otherwise abuse the sacrament ; 6th, That in the 
hosts, or consecrated particles (wafers), remaining after com- 
munion, the body of Christ does not remain, but exists only 
eaten, and neither before nor after ; 7th, That it is of divine 
right to communicate in both kinds, and that therefore they 
sin who compel the people to use one kind ; 8th, That there 
is not contained under one kind as much as is contained under 
both ; 9th, That faith alone is sufficient preparation for re- 
ceiving the eucharist, and that a person is not bound to 
communicate at Easter; and, 10th, That it is not lawful for 
a person to communicate himself." f 

f Memoirs, p. 112, sq. These articles will be referred to in the 
thirteenth session. 

M 



162 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Deliberations on the Propositions. 

Almost daily congregations were held on the matters re- 
ferred to in these propositions ; and many disputes, displaying 
no small discontent and vexation at the undefined character 
of the power given to the Church, disturbed the peace of the 
assemblies to such an extent, that Cervini, dreading the 
consequences of party spirit, entreated the legate Del Monte 
in a letter, to take such measures as might calm the irritated 
feelings of the members of the council. 

Dreading that the warm disposition of his colleague might 
betray him into some intemperate conduct, he recommended 
him by soothing words to remove suspicion, and to make use 
of general terms in speaking of the power of the council, 
stating that its power was most ample touching the matters 
committed to its charge by the Roman pontiff, but not so in 
other respects ;S but that the pontiff was ready to exercise 
his whole power to the advantage of the Christian common- 
wealth, and that they (the legates) would themselves do their 
utmost to persuade the pontiff to keep his word. 

Accordingly, in the synod, Del Monte, in speaking of the 
subject of reform, took care to adopt a conciliatory tone, 
condemning any extreme measures, and reminding them, that 
although they had the power of making decrees tantamount 
to laws, it was not for them to pass laws invalidating the 
power of the Roman pontiff. Cardinal Cervini then pre- 
sented the opinions of the theologians touching the proposi- 
tions enumerated in the last chapter, the results of which 
will be found in the thirty canons h passed at the ensuing 
session. 

It is impossible to give even a partial account of the 
various disputes held on the important matters discussed in 
these congregations ; nor would our limits permit a corn- 
s' A fine proof of the total dependence of the council upon the papal 
authority. Pallav. ix. 1, 9, is my authority ; but Dr. Waterworth, 
although touching closely upon this very chapter, says not one word on 
the subject. 

h See " Decrees and Canons," p. 51, sqq. Dr. Waterworth observes :— 
" It will be seen that they are given nearly in the words of the heretics, 
as they were drawn up for condemnation by Seripando, after numerous 
emendations, however, in the particular and general congregations." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



163 



parison of them with the articles of the reformed churches ; 
but a few remarks on the wording and import of some of 
the canons may be useful to the reader. 

The opinion of Peter of Lombardy respecting the number 
of the sacraments 1 was universally received; and thus the 
word of a schoolman became an article of faith, and was held 
up as an apostolical tradition, to be received under pain of 
anathema. But the second point of the first article, namely, 
that there are neither more nor less than seven sacraments, 
was thought too bold, as doubt had been entertained as to 
whether a sacrament could be denned. Various mystical and 
other reasons were, however, alleged in favour of the number 
seven. 

In the fourth canon, it was resolved that the words "in 
any way " should be added to the denial, that " no sacrament 
is more worthy than another," in the third article, inasmuch 
as, under certain views, no sacrament can be considered as 
inferior to another. This was in condemnation of Luther. 

In the fourth, " we may observe," says Mendham, " that 
the closing sentence, which the fathers awkwardly mean to 
represent their own doctrine, is evidently intended to shelter 
the priesthood, who are forbidden the use of one of the 
sacraments of their Church — matrimony." k 

In the eighth, the opus operatum is defended, by which the 
faith of the recipient is not supplanted by the outward act of 
the priest; but it may be observed, that the sixth article, 

* On the freer use of the word "sacrament," as denoting any holy 
observance or institution, see Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Lord Bishop of 
London, p. 4, sqq. 

"It is no wonder, if the word i sacrament, ' being oi a large extent, 
there should be some passages in ancient writers that call other actions 
so besides baptism and the Lord's supper ; for in a larger sense every 
holy rite may be so called. But it is no small prejudice against the 
number of seven sacraments, that Peter Lombard, a writer in the twelfth 
century, is the first that reckons seven of them. From that mystical 
expression of the seven spirits of God, there came a conceit of the 
sevenfold operation of the Spirit, and it looked like a good illustration 
of that to assert seven sacraments ; this Pope Eugenius put in his 
instruction to the Armenians, which is published with the council of 
Florence, and all was finally settled at Trent." — Bumet on the Articles, 
p. 270. 

k Mendham, p. 115. The passage is : " Then all the sacraments be 
not necessary for every individual." 

M 2 



164 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



from whence this canon appears to originate, was nearly 
being omitted. 

In the ninth, Dominicus Soto wished to prove that the 
" character " imprinted by the sacraments is based upon the 
authority of Holy Scripture, and although the name had not 
been used by the fathers, that it was derived from apostolic 
tradition. But others alleged the silence of Gratian, and the 
different opinion of Scotus, on the subject. After much 
cavilling and trifling, it was agreed "that three sacraments 
have the character ; yet some did say modestly, that it was 
to be approved as more probable, not as necessary : others 
on the contrary said that it was an article of faith, because 
Innocent III. made mention of it, and it was so defined by 
the Council of Florence." 1 

In the eleventh canon, Luther's opinion, expressed in the 
thirteenth proposition, is condemned ; he having maintained 
that, agreeably to man's justification by faith alone, the 
sacrament is valid, even if administered in joke, and with no 
fitting disposition on the part of the speech. If we may 
believe the elaborate, and, apparently, well-supported state- 
ment of Pallavicino, m it was only at this opinion of Luther's 
that the words of the canon were directed, and that the 
opinion advocated by Catharinus, bishop of Minori (to which 
he clung, even after the decision of the council), was simply 
this : that, for the validity of the sacrament, it is sufficient 
that the minister act outwardly in a serious manner, free 
from any obvious intention to make them the object of 
ridicule, whatever may be his inward intention, or want ot 
intention. 11 

Among the canons of baptism, I will merely quote Mend- 
ham's remark on the ninth : " that it discovers the apprehen- 
sion lest the comprehensive vow of baptism should render 
superfluous the ulterior vows enjoined by the Roman Church, 
and not unconnected with her profits and her reputation." 

In the third canon on confirmation, the word " ordinary 

Brent's Sarpi, p. 224. 

m ix. 6, 2. He certainly labours to do justice both to the orthodoxy 
and abilities of Catharinus. 

n Pallav. ix. 6, § 3. Some curious arguments on the matter will be 
found in Sarpi, p. 191, sq. Pallavicino's views are somewhat opposed 
by Courayer, p. 440, n. 70. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



165 



was added, but after a long dispute, in consequence of the 
^Florentine Council having permitted priests, when sufficient 
cause was found, to administer that sacrament, provided the 
chrism used had been consecrated by a bishop; and the same 
privilege had been exercised by various priests, especially 
those of the Franciscan order. 

Although, as before stated, the eucharist had been made 
the subject of considerable attention, it was not at present 
brought forward as a matter to be determined by the synod. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Decrees touching Reformation. Difficulties thereof. 

An admirable writer of the present day observes, that 
"the Council of Trent, especially in its latest session, dis- 
played the antagonist parties in the Roman Church, one 
struggling for lucrative abuses, one anxious to overthrow 
them."P Such was indeed the case in the present disputes, 
and slow was the progress made towards substantial reforma- 
tion. To give some idea of the difficulties with which even 
the pope, so far as he was interested in this department of the 
council, had to struggle, we find the following particulars in 
a, contemporary diary. 

" Concerning the subject of pluralities, the author of the 
Diary informs us, the legates wrote to the pontiff, suggesting 
to him not to make the reform too universal, but to leave the 
council to satisfy the bishops. The Spaniards presented 
eleven censures on ecclesiastical subjects, of which the legates 
complained to the pope, who partook of their dissatisfaction, 
and suspected the emperor to be at the bottom of these 
symptoms of insubordination. And our author adds, that 
certainly his majesty did aim to depress his holiness. This 
state of affairs induced the pope to think of transferring the 
council to Bologna." ^ 

There is no doubt that the coalition of the Spanish, 
French, and German prelates, formed a formidable adversary 
to the court of Rome, and that, whatever real desires of 

° Pallav. ix. 6, § 11. 

p Hallam, Lit. of Europe, v. ii. p. 96. 

q In Mendkam, Memoirs, p. 114. The censure will be noticed 
shortly. 



166 THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



reformation Paul III. may have felt, they were curbed by 
the dread of losing a power to which he clung as fondly as 
any of his predecessors. His rupture with the emperor, 
and the discontent of the prelates assembled at Trent, while 
they compelled him to exercise a firm sway over the council, 
at the same time deadened its efforts, and prevented 
measures of a decided character. It is therefore matter of 
little surprise, that the decrees on reformation, which were 
the result of the present session, were comparatively languid 
and inefficient. 1 

CHAPTER XXXIY. 

The Seventh Session. 

At the seventh session, held on the 3rd of March, 1547, the 
mass was sung by Andrea Cauco, archbishop of Corfu, but in 
consequence of the illness of Martirano, bishop of San Marco, 
the usual sermon was omitted. The canons respecting faith 
met with unanimous approval, as did those on reformation, 
with the exception of a few unimportant objections. The 
question of the " representing clause " was also agitated. 

At this session were present three cardinals, nine arch- 
bishops, fifty-four bishops, the proctors of the archbishop- 
elector of Treves, and of the bishop of Augsburg, two abbots, 
and five generals of orders. 

Having now brought down the history of the council to 
the period of its translation to Bologna, I think it best to 
close the second part of my narrative. s 

r They will be found p. 55, sqq. Cf. Sarpi, p. 195, sqq., who has 
many useful observations on the subject of pluralities. 

s I may just advert to an important event in reference to the court 
of Borne — the death of Henry VIII. — which had taken place on the 
28th of the preceding January. Although he scarcely comes within the 
pale of Tridentine history, I may recommend to my readers the able 
sketch of his character by Pallavicino, ix. 3, 13, and the still more bril- 
liant and impartial criticism of Dr. Lingard, History of England, v. vi* 
p. 364, sqq. 



PART THE THIRD. 



CHAPTER I. 

Transference of the Council to Bologna. 

Wl now arrive at the climax of dissension relative to the 
Council of Trent, that ended in its translation to Bologna. 
Rome seemed unfit, as it was likely to increase the rapidly- 
spreading irritation in Germany ; but Bologna, being situated 
within the pale of the pontiff's supreme authority, and being 
both fertile and well-frequented, seemed to be admirably 
adapted for the transference of the assembly. 

" His motives to this step," says the best historian of papal 
Rome, a " do not admit of doubt. The political and the 
ecclesiastical tendencies of the papacy were once more in 
collision. That all Germany should be vanquished and really 
submissive to the emperor, was a thing the pope could never 
have desired : his expectations had pointed to a far different 
result. He might have thought it probable that the emperor 
would obtain some success which would redound to the 
advantage of the Catholic Church ; at the same time he 
doubted not, as he himself confesses, that he should see liim 
involved in many difiiculties and perplexities, which would 
enable himself, the pope, more freely to pursue his private 
ends. But fortune mocked his calculations. He had now to 
fear, and France drew his attention to this, that this para- 
mount power attained by the emperor would react on Italy, 
and be felt by himself but too soon in spiritual as well as 
temporal affairs. In addition to all this, he felt a growing 
uneasiness with regard to the council. It had long been a 
burthen to him, and he had already bethought him of dissolving 
it : but now the imperialists among the bishops, made more 
and more presunrptuous by victory, were taking some 



a Eanke, p. 66. Cf. Hallam, I. c. ; Mo.sheim, v. iii. p. 152, sq. 



168 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



singularly bold steps. The Spanish bishops brought forward 
certain proposals under the name of censurse, b that tended 
generally to a circumscription of the papal dignity. The 
Reformation, always so much dreaded by Rome, seemed no 
longer capable of being postponed." 

!Nor is contemporary evidence wanting to prove that 
accident only served to give opportunity for carrying a pre- 
conceived scheme into execution, even if the juncture of cir- 
cumstances, and the doubtful position of the pope at this 
period, left any room for doubt. The collective force of the 
council, and the unmistakable earnestness of the emperor in 
pursuit of a reformation much more calculated to enhance 
■his own popularity than to support the exclusive dignity of 
the papal see, and the dissatisfaction, even expressed by the 
legates, at the state of affairs at Trent — these were ample 
reasons to justify his desire to sever what threatened to be 
.a dangerous union, and either to disunite the assembled 
prelates by calling away those faithful to the pontifical 
interests, or, by bringing both parties more within the reach 
of his own authority, to diminish the influence of Charles 
over the imperial prelates, and gradually mould both to his 
own inclination. 

Strong as was his hatred against the Protestants, his dis- 
like to the emperor was now more keen, more deeply mixed 
up with the preservation of his own interests. Again were 
these master -plotters outvying each other by the same 

h See Sarpi, p. 203, sq., where they are given at length. 

c " The writer of the Diary, who is evidently not one of the pontifical 
party, represents the affair thus. Many of the prelates and their 
domestics were at this time indisposed, either from the indulgences 
of the council, or the humidity of the atmosphere. The Cardinal del 
Monte employed persons to inquire of the physicians whether there 
was any danger of contagion, who, dropping an ambiguous word, a 
general pause ensued, which was justified by the recent death of Henry 
Loffredi, bishop of Capaccio ; and as the disease increased, the legate 
ordered the procurator of the council to institute a process concerning 
it. It was reported that the neighbouring towns, and Verona in par- 
ticular, had suspended all intercourse with the infected place ; so that 
a congregation was held on the 9th of March, when the legates pub- 
lished their faculty for transferring the council. The imperialists pro- 
tested that there was no just cause for the measure, and afterwards 
the congregation inquired, and found that it was a pretence and a 
concerted thing." — Mendham, p. 119. Cf. Sarpi, p. 213. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



169 



scheme, each taking up the cast-off weapons of the other, 
and seeking to ruin his adversary by the same implements 
which had been used against himself. But there was this 
important difference. The emperor had favoured Protest- 
antism when it suited him, and had all along felt that its 
growing power was too serious to be tampered with. As long 
as the pontiff was of any use to him, he had kept up as much 
fealty to the court of Rome as he considered a fair equiva- 
lent for the services he expected from the pope, and which 
he knew him to be capable of rendering. But his selfishness 
never deserted him for a moment. To the last, he had used 
the papal resources, and had yet avowed different motives : 
with the revenues allotted bim for the carrying on of a religious 
war, he had declared himself simply the avenger of a poli- 
tical quarrel. He had done the work of the pope, d and had 
not only carried off the spoils of victory, but robbed his con- 
federate of his share of credit. If papal cunning and inge- 
nuity ever found its match at its own weapons, it was in the 
crafty counterplotting of Charles the Fifth. 

The pope, on the other hand, had fully equalled his ad- 
versary in insincerity, and had regarded him as a most 
important instrument for putting down Protestantism. Bit- 
terly as he had been thwarted and disappointed in this aim, 
and many as had been the opportunities of fixing, by more 
direct concessions, the wavering mind of the emperor, he 
had still stood proudly upon the papal eminence, and while 
he condescended to deceptions and inconsistencies in minor 
matters, against which his own powerful mind must have 
inwardly rebelled, he scorned to yield one iota from his 
authority. The emperor might sap his designs, and might 
treat Protestantism alternately as an enemy to be conquered, 
and a means of invading the papal authority ; but Paul III. 
stood firm in his hatred of the reformists, and preferred a 
civil war, so to speak, amongst the Bomish prelates, to a 
tranquillity bought by concessions which might recoil upon 
the very existence of the Vatican. He not only wished 
princes to do the work of Catholicism, but to do it in his 
name, and under his credentials and authority. He cared 

d Witness, for example, his having just deprived the archbishop of 
Cologne of his pontificate.— Pallav. ix. 13, 1. 



170 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



not even to oppress Protestantism, if his influence were 
employed to raise the glories of a temporal prince, and not 
to exalt the tlrunders launched by the successor of St. Peter. 
His selfishness was as great as that of Charles, but his 
motives were nobler. There was more of heroism in his 
opposition, and less of meanness in his concessions, where 
circumstances forced him to yield. 

Those circumstances had already come ; and Paul trembled 
as he watched the growing discontents of the council, and 
bethought him of the chances that the successful progress of 
the emperor might menace Rome ere long. To transfer the 
synod had been long in agitation, but, with his stern deter- 
mination to yield no point except upon invincible compul- 
sion, he had resisted even the suggestions of his legates. But 
now his mind was made up : a pretext only was wanting, 
and chance furnished one, the plausibility of which was un- 
fortunately only surpassed by its insufficiency. 

CHAPTER EL 

Ostensible Causes of the Translation of the Council. 

In the last synod, the day for the next session had been 
fixed for the 21st of April, but circumstances tending to 
favour the transfer of the council, an earlier day was se- 
lected. 

On the 4th of March, the day after the last session, copies 
of the heretical articles on the eucharist, which had been 
already canvassed to some extent, e were given to each of the 
fathers, with a view of being immediately considered ; but 
on the 8th, Henrico Loffredi, bishop of Capaccio, died of a 
malignant disease, to which the general of the Cordeliers had 
previously fallen a victim. The legates had already written 
to Rome for authority to transfer the council, should the dis- 
ease continue to increase; but the subject of the eucharist 
was nevertheless discussed in a general congregation held on 
the 7th. 

It will be sufficiently certain, from what has already been 
said, that, whether the disease was contagious or not, it was 

e These propositions have been already given. See the last book, 
chap. xxx. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



171 



rather the excuse, than the cause, for the removal of the 
prelates. But a brief view of the statements respecting the 
disease itself can scarcely be omitted/ 

The opinions of the accomplished physician and poet 
Hieronymo Fracastoro, and of Balwin de Baldwinis de 
Barga, physician to the Cardinal del Monte, coincided in 
describing the disease as a putrid fever, producing great 
languor and debility, accompanied by pustules on the skin, 
dimness of vision, wiriness and slowness of pulse, and bearing 
the medical name of ponticularis or lenticularis.% 

As to its infectious character, they said that it appeared 
chiefly to arise from the climate — a fact which they argued 
from its having spread throughout not only the city, but the 
neighbouring villages, a fact which could scarcely result 
from the infection of one person by another. 11 The dangers 
to be apprehended from it were sudden attacks of fever, 
either proving fatal, or leaving deafness, loss of memory, and 
debility of intellect. It was also defined to be a disease 
more dangerous to the higher than to the labouring classes ; 
and the physicians concluded by recommending " change of 
air" as the only means of insuring safety. 

Without attempting to determine how far the sanitary 
condition of Trent may have justified this report, we must 
nevertheless be struck with the fact that so large a number 
of prelates of the emperor's party stayed at Trent, while those 
favouring the pontiff were unanimous in hastening away. 
On the whole, I am inclined to think, that while consider- 
able malady may have been really prevalent, it was insuf- 
ficient to have produced the movement, had not other 
motives rendered it advisable. Many historians have con- 
demned the whole affair as purely fictitious ; but the truth 
appears to lie between the two extremes. 1 

f Le Plat's collection of documents on the subject is curious and 
valuable. See v. iii. p. 590, sqq. 

s Was it a species of virulent influenza, resulting from the dampness 
of the air ? 

h Le Plat's Collection, p. 601. This assertion is not medically cor- 
rect, a fact of which the plague of London is sufficient evidence. 

1 See the subject very learnedly discussed by Courayer, p. 494, note 
58, and Heidigger, v. iii. p. 357, sqq. It must be remembered, that 
the great learning and exquisite poetical taste of Fracastoro, are no 



172 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



In a general congregation held on the 9th, the legates 
made known the opinions of the physicians, the deaths which 
had already taken place, the eagerness of some to depart, and 
the actual departure of twelve of the bishops, either without 
leave, or in open violation of orders. They then requested 
the assembled prelates to declare their opinion, professing 
their willingness to submit to the decision in all things short 
of breaking up the council. Pacheco and others of the 
imperial party replied, that the matter was one of extreme 
difficulty, and asked for time to consider, declaring that they 
doubted the propriety of transferring the council without 
first consulting the pontiff and the emperor. This was 
granted, and on the next day, a full congregation having 
been convened, the first legate expressed his opinion that, 
although all idea of breaking up the council was preposte- 
rous, it seemed to himself far best to transfer it to another 
place j and that such a place should be chosen as would be 
capable of accommodating persons coming thither suddenly, 
not too distant, well victualled and with sufficient accommo- 
dation, and healthy. He concluded by naming Bologna as 
best calculated to fulfil these conditions. 

Pacheco, on the other hand, was disposed to deny the 
authority of the legates to take such a step, as offering an 
open insult to the princes by whose trouble the convocation 
of the synod had been mainly effected ; and he alleged the 
necessity of at least an unanimous consent on the part of the 
fathers assembled, before such a step should be taken. He 
also remarked that the medical men of Trent had refused to 
subscribe to the verdict of the two physicians upon whose 
report the legates were acting, and threatened not only to 
oppose any such measure, but to publish his opinions on the 
subject. 

Cervini replied, by insisting on the greater trustworthiness 
of the physicians called in, than of the local practitioners, and 
he adverted to the fact, that the only motive for assembling 
at Trent, viz. the desire of suiting the convenience of the 
German Protestants, no longer existed, as they had refused 
to be present at the council. Furthermore, he confessed, 

guarantee for his unwillingness to promote the views of his patrons 
by an exaggeration, which is, at least, ostensibly kind to humanity. 



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173 



more sincerely, perhaps, than }Drudently, k that there were other 
reasons which rendered it expedient to transfer the council. 

Further disputes ensued; but the influence of Pacheco was 
outweighed, and it was agreed to hold the session for the 
transfer of the council on the day following, being the 11th 
of March. 

CHAPTER DX 

TJie Eighth Session. Decree for the Transference of the Council. 

3Iass having been celebrated by the bishop of Butinora, 
and the usual ceremonies gone through, the first legate 
briefly recapitulated the remarks on the preceding day, and 
declared that it was his own intention, as well as that of his 
colleagues, to abide by the determination of the fathers as to 
whether they should leave or stay at Trent. At the instance 
of Pacheco. the reports of the two physicians, and a number 
of depositions of witnesses, which had been collected and 
drawn up by Severoli, the procurator of the council, were then 
read. It was therein alleged that the disease, for upwards 
of a month past, had been gradually spreading ; that fevers, 
developing themselves in pustules breaking out on the skin, 
seized people with great suddenness, and for the most part 
proved fatal ; that the daily number of deaths was most 
alarming ; moreover, that all communication of the city was 
being cut off, which would soon add the horrors of want and 
famine to those of the pestilence. Finally, Fracastoro had 
declared, that " he would not remain another month in 
Trent for a hundred crowns of gold a day, and that those 
who did so would repent of their rashness." 1 

Del Monte then proposed the translation of the council in 
the form which had been agreed upon in the congregation 
of the preceding day, in which the 21st of April was again 
named as the day for the next session. 111 

k Pallav. ix. 13, 3. I am indebted to this author for my report of 
these speeches. Dr. Waterworth's abridgment, by its omissions of 
everything calculated to do plain justice to both sides, completely loses 
sight of the spirit of the very writer whom he has avowedly taken 
for his model. 

1 Io giuro sopra queste litere, che chi mi donasse cento scudi il 
giomo, non starei piu un mese, et chi ci stara se ne pentira." — Apud 
Le Plat, I c. p. 602. Pallav. ix. 15, 1. 

m See " Decrees and Canons," p. 63, sq. 



174 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



It is unnecessary to enter into any of the discussions 
which followed the reading of the form of transference. It 
suffices to state that, when it had been approved by a majo- 
rity, the legates produced the papal breve, 11 dated as early as 
the 22nd of February, 1545, which empowered them to 
transfer the council, when and whithersoever they pleased. 

The legates left Trent on the 12th, being exactly two 
years since their first arrival. The other prelates for the 
most part followed them ; but those who clung to the empe- 
ror's side, with but one exception, remained at Trent, and 
refused to stir thence until authorized by the emperor. 
Thus was the assembly broken up in the very midst of its 
proceedings ; thus had an accident contributed to bring about 
the temporary dissolution of an assembly, which even the 
strict and compact policy of Paul III. could not render 
wholly subservient to his interests. 

CHAPTEK IY. 

Feelings at Rome on the subject. 

At Home, the opinions were as various as the size of the 
city, and the mixed characters of its inhabitants, rendered 
probable. While one party rejoiced at the removal of the 
bishops of the Apostolic See from the dominions of a prince 
who had dared to strive against the pontifical jurisdiction, 
the Spanish party were enraged that, contrary to the will of 
the bishops of their nation, and without the cognizance and 
permission of their king, the matter should have been thus 
carried into effect. They loudly inveighed against Cervini as 
the author of the whole mischief, declaring that, while he 
had outwardly seemed to study the interest of the pontiff, 
he had in reality done far more to promote the advantage of 
Charles ; for since the pontiff had shown such negligence of 
the emperor's wishes, it was but likely that the emperor 

n See "Decrees and Canons," p. 61, sq. 

° The following prelates continued at Trent : — Cardinal Pacheco, 
bishop of Jaen ; Tagliavia, archbishop of Palermo ; Sassari, archbishop 
of Tarragona ; and the bishops of Sinigaglia, St. Mark, Bossa, Cas- 
tellamare, Lanciano, Siracusa, Pace, Astorga, Osca, Cagliari, the Ca- 
naries, Oporto, Agde, and Aquino. The bishop of Fiesole, after some 
hesitation, joined the legates at Bologna, and the bishops of Agde and 
Oporto, who had at first stood neutral, followed his example. 



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175 



would retaliate the slight, and would have the less hesitation 
in entering into a treaty with the Protestants, being desirous 
only to embrace such terms as were to his own interest.P 
Whatever were his real feelings at the time, the pope, in a 
consistory held on the 28th of March, 1547, approved of the 
conduct of the legates as necessary, prudent, and lawful. A 
few urged the propriety of the matter having been first 
communicated to the emperor ; but the pontiff, with some 
heat, replied that the matter had been well done, and that 
there was no occasion to have waited any longer, since the 
Germans had been vainly expected for two years past. In 
fact, Paul perceived that, after intrusting his legates with a 
power so great and so responsible, it would have been a 
satire upon his own management to have allowed their judg- 
ment to be called in question. 

u But none," as Sarpi observes, " were so simple as not to 
believe that all was done by his commandment; it being cer- 
tain that nothing, how little soever, was handled in the 
council without an order first received from Pome. For which 
purpose, letters coming once every week, and some weeks 
twice, it was not credible that a matter of that importance 
was hatched in the legate's brains. Besides, only to bring so 
many persons into a city, so jealous as Bologna, without 
consent of the prince thereof, seemed to be a thing which 
the legates would never have attempted. Many did believe 
that the bull had not a true date, but was newly made, though 
the date was old, and with the name of Cardinal Poole, 
to give it greater reputation ; otherwise, that clause in which 
authority is given unto two of the legates, the other being- 
absent, to translate the council, would seem a kind of pro- 
phecy that Poole should depart a year after * and the liberty 
to transfer it to what city they wished, seemed too large and 
improbable, considering the suspicion always fixed in the 
mind of the popes, that the council should be celebrated in 
an unfaithful city, showed more than ever by Pope Paul when 
he did call it. So that it was incredible that he would 
unnecessarily expose himself to the discretion of another in 
a matter of so great weight. Yet following the notes which 
I have seen, as I said before, I assure myself that it was 



p Pallav. ix. 17, 3. 



176 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



made two years, and not eighteen months, <i before this 
time." r 

Pallavicino s would have us believe that both the pontiff and 
Cervini were vexed that the matter had not been delayed for 
a longer period. If this were really the case, it seems to me 
that such a feeling must have sprung from an after-thought 
of the possibility of the emperors displeasure manifesting 
itself in some unlooked-for manner. Moreover, the firm 
determination of the imperial prelates to remain at Trent, in 
which they were confirmed by the mandate of Charles, may 
have deceived their expectations, and presented a barrier 
which threatened fresh conflicts, and was fraught with new 
annoyances to the aged pontiff. Even supposing that he had 
foreseen the probable adherence of the imperial prelates to 
their royal master, hope perhaps flattered him into a belief 
which sounder judgment repudiated ; and, with a feeling com-- 
mon amongst mankind, he began to reflect whether matters 
might not have turned out better, had he pursued a different 
course. 

Meanwhile, the prelates who remained at Trent, on re- 
ceiving the legatine summons to migrate to Bologna, resolved 
to avoid proceeding with any conciliar act, for fear of in- 
curring the charge of schism. fc 

CHAPTER V. 

Breve for the Safe-Conduct to Bologna. 

After some discontented correspondence with the emperor, 
whose language was daily getting more and more unrestrained, 
the pope published a breve, dated March 29th, by which a 

«i This assertion is scarcely correct. See Courayer, p. 500, note 75. 
Pallavicino, ch. 16, indulges in unsparing, but not always reasonable, 
attacks upon his adversary. 

r Brent's translation, p. 251. I must confess that the question rela- 
tive to the dating of this bull puzzles me entirely. Mendham, p. 118, 
savs ^ — "A bull, with a faculty of transferring the council, without 
naming to what place, was directed by the reigning pontiff to the 
legates, which bears the date of February 22, 1547." And so it is 
printed in the Decrees and Canons. The date must, therefore, have 
been altered, and adapted to present time. 

9 Pallav. ibid. 17, 5. 

1 Sarpi, book iii. p. 253, Brent. 



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177 



safe-conduct was offered to all who might choose to go to the 
council at Bologna, while the legates used every means in 
their power to persuade the prelates, who had left Trent 
through fear of disease, to set out thither. 

Some preliminary congregations were held at Bologna, on 
the subjects of the eucharist and of penance, and on the 
21st of April, in an assembly of thirty-four bishops, the 
legates proposed that, as so many prelates were absent, and 
as Del Monte was disabled by the gout, and Easter near at 
hand, no matters of doctrine should be treated of at present, 
but that the session should be prorogued to the 2nd of J une ; 
the assembly, however, retaining the power of choosing an 
earlier or a later period if advisable. " It was also decreed, 
to write letters in the name of the Holy General Synod, to 
the fathers remaining in Trent, exhorting them to go to 
Bologna, and to unite themselves with the body, from which 
being separated, they cannot be called an ecclesiastical con- 
gregation, but do give much scandal to Christendom." 

CHAPTER VI. 

Proceedings of the Emperor, 

The emperor was so deeply occupied with warlike matters, 
that he had given little heed to the council, beyond resenting; 
the transfer thereof by the pontiff. On the 24th of April,, 
he came to a decisive battle upon the banks of the Elbe, in 
which he made a prisoner of the elector of Saxony. The- 
Protestant forces had been weakened by the circumstances 
to which we have already alluded, and the landgrave of 
Hesse was also compelled to yield, and, a few days after, by 
the mediation of his son-in-law Maurice, and the elector of 
Brandenburg, made his appearance before the emperor. The 
elector was at first condemned to death as a traitor, but his 
life was spared upon some hard conditions. But the emperor 
was so resolutely bent upon making political, not religious 
ends, the cause of his quarrel, that he waived the question of 
obedience to the Council of Trent, in respect both to the 
elector and the landgrave. Both were, however, imprisoned. 

The pope had now fairly given over the emperor, and 
sought to make favour with the French king. To this end 
he despatched Jeronymo Baccaferrio, a Roman cardinal of 

N 



178 



THE HISTORY OP THE 



St. George, to condole with him on the death of his father, 
and congratulate him on his accession ; at the same time to 
do his best to bring about an alliance. This, although little 
else than a repetition of a previously-tried policy, is valuable 
as an instance of the game of politics which has ever distin- 
guished the Roman courts, and which has made kingdoms a 
chess-board, in which popery has used each set of pieces in 
succession. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Advice of Don Diego. 

The delay of the council, according to Pallavicino, u was 
by many attributed to the desire of Cardinal Farnese to 
conciliate the emperor ; and it was alleged that he, by his 
efforts in that direction, " had overcome the noble constancy 
of Paul." x However this might be, the event seemed to 
show that the cardinal had looked rather to the interests and 
wishes of the emperor, than to those of the pontiff. Don 
Diego de Mendoza proposed that the prelates now remaining 
at Trent should forthwith join the rest, but that the synod 
should then be transferred back again to its original seat. 
The conditions of such a concession were, that the emperor 
should compel the Germans to receive and abide by the 
Tridentine decrees already passed, and to obedience to those 
hereafter to be promulgated ; that due attention should be 
paid to prevent the detriment likely to accrue to the Apos- 
tolic See ; and that, in the event of the pontiff dying while 
the council remained open, the choice of a successor should^ 
as heretofore, be referred to the college of cardinals. Other 
conditions were named, and it was supposed that the present 
successes of the emperor in Germary would be likely to 
render such proposals acceptable. Such, however, was not 
Caesar's policy. He would only persecute when his own 
interests were likely to receive benefit. 

u Pallav. x. 1. 

x " E se ne- incolpb il Cardinal Farnese, il quale per guadagnarsi, 6 
mantenersi 1' Imperadore, frangesse la valorosa fermezza di Paolo co' 
suoi ufiicii." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



179 



CHAPTER YIII. 

The Tenth Session. 

Meanwhile, the fathers assembled at Bologna were not 
losing time. While the matter of the eucharist had been 
thoroughly discussed and put into form, so that little re- 
mained but the promulgation of the decrees and canons now 
prepared, the question of penance, in like manner, had 
received almost equal attention, and was in nearly as forward 
a state of preparation. Every exertion to retain the prelates, 
and to encourage them in their work, was made by the 
legates, and the pontiff, well knowing the influence of num- 
bers in carrying a victory, was liberal and frequent in his 
supplies. 

Nor were the prelates at Bologna unmindful of the poli- 
tical interests which the Roman court now had at stake. 
Funeral honours were given to the recently deceased king of 
France — a measure calculated to further the views of the 
pontiff in that direction ; and the most joyful ceremonies, on 
the other hand, celebrated the triumph of the emperor over 
the Protestants in Germany. 

In a congregation held on the 1st of June, the Cardinal 
del Monte, who, with the other legates had received advice 
from Rome to prorogue the business of the session until the 
will of the emperor with regard to the proposals of Mendoza 
should be known, called upon the assembly for their opinion. 
He observed that, " as the day of the session was now at 
hand, it behoved them to consider whether the decrees now 
prepared should be promulgated : that there were reasons on 
both sides, for that the most important doctrine of the 
eucharist being now ready, and the previous session having 
been held to no purpose — a like fruitlessness in the next 
meeting would greatly prejudice the dignity of the synod. 
But, on the other hand, this would involve the necessity of 
publishing the canons of the eucharist separately, without 
saying a word on the subject of reform, of wliich it had been 
proposed to treat conjointly. And the subjects connected 
with reform, upon which they were employed, and which 
were not yet completely arranged, were of the utmost 
importance — embracing, as they did, injuries done to the 

n2 



180 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



authority of the bishops by the conduct of the secular 
princes, and by the privileges of religious orders, and which 
were most importantly concerned in the question of residence. 
In the absence of any ambassadors from these princes, and 
likewise of a sufficient number of generals of orders, he 
thought it advisable to postpone the treatment of both 
subjects, more especially as, being now in a city within the 
jurisdiction of the pontiff, and therefore being supposed to be 
guided by his immediate influence, it was the more important 
that the original plan, by which doctrine and reform were to 
be handled together, should be adhered to." Nor did he 
omit to urge the present dissatisfaction of the emperor, and 
the probability that, by waiting for a season, his objections 
might be removed, and the prelates still abiding at Trent, 
might join their brethren at Bologna. He also observed, 
that, in the event of the embassy to the king of France also 
proving successful, they might hope to receive an increase to 
the synod, not only from the Germans, but the French 
bishopsJ 

With the exception of the bishop of Acci, who thought 
that at least the decree concerning the eucharist ought to be 
promulgated, the opinion of Del Monte met with unanimous 
approval. On the 2nd of June, 1547, the tenth session was 
opened by Olaus Magnus, bishop of Upsal, celebrating mass ; 
after which it was decreed that the 15th of the September 
following should be fixed for the next meeting, and that both 
the matters of discussion should meanwhile be proceeded, 
with conjointly. At the same time, power was reserved of 
increasing or reducing this delay. 

At this session were present the two legates, six arch- 
bishops, thirty-six bishops, one abbo J j 3 and two generals of 
orders. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Further Delays, JRanJce's Reflections. 

Meanwhile, the efforts of Paul to form a confederation 
with the French king prospered ; a promise of the attend- 
ance of the French bishops, and the union of Oratio Farnese 
with Diana, natural daughter of Henry II., were events that 



y Pallav. I c. 2, 4. 



COUXCIL OF TRENT. 



181 



bade fair to reassure the hopes of the pontiff, whose age and 
infirmities were fast wearing, down the almost untiring ac- 
tivity of his mind. Several prelates of influence arrived at 
Bologna ; but although the business went on in frequent 
congregations, a variety of untoward events still combined 
to interfere with the efficient holding of a public session ; 
and it was wisely judged little expedient to convoke an 
assembly without passing efficient measures. 

The remarks of Banke, as showing the strange relation 
in which all parties were placed at this juncture, are curious 
and important. No historian has done better justice to the 
intrepid spirit with which Paul III. so well knew how to 
face difficulties ; no writer has more fairly estimated the 
extent of those difficulties, or of the general complexity 
which involved the whole affairs of Christendom in its rela- 
tion to the papal court. 

" The transference of the council," observes Banke, " was a 
matter of the greatest importance. It is wonderful how 
much on this occasion, too, the dissensions of the pope and 
the emperor, produced by the political position of the for- 
mer, aided the cause of the Protestants. The means of 
compelling them to submit to the voice of the council now 
obviously presented themselves. But as the council itself 
had divided (for the imperial bishops remained in Trent), 
since there was no longer a possibility of its arriving at any 
valid resolution, neither could any one be forced to give his 
adhesion to the acts of that body. The emperor was com- 
pelled to see the most essential part of his plans frustrated 
by the defection of his ally. He not only insisted con- 
tinually on the retransfer of the Council of Trent, but even 
went so far as to say, ' that he would go to Borne, and hold 
the council there himself.' " z 

CHAPTEB X. > 

Proceedings of Sfondrato. 

Brevity compels me to pass over the events with which 
the conclusion of Paul's life abounds, and a passing glance at 
the many vexations and failures which embittered his last 



z Ranke, p. 67. 



182 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



years must suffice, ere we pass on to the resumption of the 
council. 

Great hopes had been entertained from the mediation of 
Sfondrato, who had been deputed to carry out the sugges- 
tions of Don Diego ; but the event proved otherwise. After 
some vain attempts to urge the emperor, who was on his 
way to Augsburg, with the view of holding a diet, to make 
war against England, with the view of revenging the in- 
sult offered to his kinswoman Catherine of Arragon by the 
late king of England, as well as to promote the renewal 
of Catholicism, he set forth the necessity of consolidating the 
now divided forces of the council. To this the emperor 
replied, that his own expeditions in the cause of religion 
were the best earnest of his sincerity; but that the dissen- 
sions in Germany could never be appeased, except by the 
removal of the council back to its original destination — " a 
change," he added, " which would easily be in the pontiff's 
power, especially if, as he had asserted, its removal took 
place without his knowledge." As to the ostensible cause 
of its transfer, he asserted that it was not a legitimate 
reason in the first instance, and now had altogether ceased. 

The legate replied that such could not be the case, unless 
the fathers summoned to the council found that some great 
and real benefit to religion would result from their return to 
Trent. He then urged the propriety of embracing the 
terms proposed by Don Diego ; namely, that the Germans 
should first receive the decrees already passed, and bind 
themselves to a like obedience to future ones. But the 
emperor was obstinate and not to be convinced. All the 
ingenuity of Sfondrato could not persuade him to abate one 
tittle of his unqualified demand for the council to be held at 
Trent, and his dispatches to Home told nothing that was 
satisfactory. 

Paul, while unwilling to derogate from the dignity of the 
Apostolic See by reassembling the council at Trent without 
some certain prospect of persuading or compelling the Pro- 
testants to abide by its decrees, and still anxious for peace, 
proposed to make Ferrara the seat of the transfer, as being 
dependent on the emperor. But, as Pallavicino writes, " the 
imperial party were not so much unfavourable to Bologna, 
as being in the papal jurisdiction, as desirous of Trent, as 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



183 



being opportune for Germany." Sickness of a serious character 
now added itself to the other troubles of the pontiff, and 
great dread was felt lest a general council should be held in 
Germany under present circumstances, should death make 
the chair of St. Peter vacant. a 

CHAPTER XI. 

Diet at Augsburg. 

At the beginning of September, 1547, the diet was held 
at Augsburg, in which the emperor asserted that, with a 
view of pacifying the troubles of Germany, he had caused 
the council to be convoked and commenced at Trent, but 
that, his efforts failing to bring about the wished-for end, he 
had been constrained to seek for another remedy by war. 
" And because it had pleased God to give a happy issue 
to his resolution, reducing Germany to those terms that he 
felt sure would reform it, he had assembled the princes for 
that end. But for that the difference of religion was cause 
of all those troubles, it was necessary to begin there." b A 
finer instance of the vacillating principles of the emperor 
could hardly be conceived, than his present avowal of reli- 
gious motives for actions to which he had all along at- 
tempted to give a political colour. 

" The opinions of the princes in that diet were divers ; for 
among the electors the ecclesiastics desired and urged that 
the Council of Trent should be held, and demanded no con- 
dition. The seculars, adhering to the Lutherans, were con- 
tent with these conditions : that it should be free and pious ; 
that the pope should not preside, neither in person, nor by 
his ministers ; that he should release the oath by which the 
bishops are bound unto him ; that the Protestant divines 
should have a decided voice ; and that the decrees already 
made should be re-examined. The other Catholics demanded 
that the council should be continued, and the Protestants 
have a safe-conduct to go thither and speak freely, and be 
enforced to obey the decrees." 

a My authority throughout this chapter is Pallav. x. 3. 

b Sarpi, p. 256, Brent. 

c Id. p. 256. See Waterworth, p. cxxiii. sq. 



184 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XII. 

Murder of Pietro Luigi. State of Affairs. 

But the terrors of an episode, too frequent in Italian 
history, were not wanting to fill up the cup of bitterness 
which Pope Paul III. was destined to drain before his 
death; and this period of our narrative must give place to a 
tale of horror, which, while it illustrates the deadly immo- 
ralities to which the influence of the court of Rome often 
furnished the means of gratification, and the shameful 
characters upon whom the revenues of the Church were 
wasted by the so-called successors of St. Peter, is equally sad 
in the moral it conveys, and as it shows how heavily the 
consequences of a base misapplication of means and interest 
recoil upon the heads of those, who have abused the respon- 
sibility with which they have been intrusted. 

It has been seen, that the aggrandizement of his family 
was an object of which Poj)e Paul III. never lost sight; and 
that he had availed himself of his intimacy with the em- 
peror, to transfer Parma and Piacenza to his natural son, 
Pietro Luigi, as a fief under the papal see. d 

Crime, avowed and 'secret, stained this unhappy offspring 
of early indiscretion with a reputation as little creditable to 
his memory as it was conducive to his untimely end. Deeply 
implicated in those secret societies, in which the dagger and 
the cup too often served as the ready and short road to 
wealth and aggrandizement ; mixed up with the malcontent 
party of Florentine emigrants ; and endued with a boldness 
which no consideration of conscience ever daunted — he had 
become the centre of a power and influence which was 

d " By way of compensation, he reattached Camerino and Nepi to 
the Church, and sought to prove that the Camera wou]d suffer no loss 
in the transaction, by calculations of the cost attending the maintenance 
of those frontier places in a state of defence, the tribute that his son 
would have to pay on account of them, and the revenue to be derived 
from the newly -annexed localities. But it was only in private confe- 
rences with the cardinals he could succeed in bringing them over to 
his views, and this not even with all of them. Some openly resisted ; 
others sedulously abstained from attending the consistory, in which the 
matter was brought forward ; and Caraffa was seen on the day appointed 
for that business, proceeding on a solemn visit to the seven churches. 
— Banke, p. 67. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



185 



destined at once to be his glory and his ruin. " One day," says 
the spirited historian of these times, " the pope, who thought 
himself still under the influence of favourable stars, and able 
to conjure all the storms that threatened him, was parti- 
cularly cheerful at the audience. He enumerated all the 
felicities of this life, and compared himself in that respect 
with the emperor Tiberius. On that very day his son, the 
possessor of all his acquisitions, the heir of his good fortune, 
was assailed and murdered by conspirators in Piacenza." e 

Whether the emperor was really privy to this deed or not, 
is a question resting upon uncertain evidence, although it is 
more than probable that he may have been willing to get 
rid of so dangerous an enemy, especially now that his con- 
nection with the pope was on the decline. At all events, he 
did not fail to take immediate advantage of the event ; the 
imperial troops quickly took possession of Piacenza, and 
asserted the claims of Charles to that city. The immediate 
perpetrators of the murder were the Ghibelline party, whom 
Luigi's violent oppression of the nobility had driven to des- 
peration, and who were doubtless instigated by Ferrante 
Gonzaga, governor of Milan/ to which city the ambitious 
son of Paul III. had aspired. 

Dreadful was the state of Italy. Political factions rent 
the whole of society : even the Camera was filled with men 
who nourished dark and ominous thoughts towards one 
another, and the pope found himself daily plunged in deeper 
difficulties. France was the only country to which he could 
look for aid. Oftentimes did he discuss the relation of the 
Homan See to France, in the presence of the French ambas- 
sadors and the newly-created Cardinal Guise. " He had 
read in old books," said this weather-beaten politician, " and 
had it from others during his cardinalate, and had personally 
experienced it since he became pope, that the Holy See was 
always in power and prosperity when allied with France, 
while on the contrary it sustained losses so soon as this 

e Banke, p. 68. 

f " Gonzaga's biographer, who had been, in the times we are speak- 
ing of, his confidential secretary, and who seeks to exculpate him, 
assures us that his intention had only extended to the imprisonment, 
and not to the assassination, of Farnese." — Ibid. I regret that I can- 
not transfer the whole of the masterly remarks which follow to my 
pages. 



186 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ceased to be the case. He could not forgive Leo X. and his 
predecessor Clement ; he could not forgive himself, for having 
even favoured the emperor : now, however, he was deter- 
mined for ever to unite himself with France. He hoped to 
live yet long enough to leave the papal see devotedly at- 
tached to the French king; he would endeavour to make 
the latter the greatest sovereign in the world; his own 
house should be connected with him by the most indissoluble 
ties.' 1 ? 

CHAPTER XIIL 

Prorogation of the Session to an Indefinite Period. 

We have already alluded to the prorogation of the council, 
which followed these events. The following description of 
what transpired on that occasion, is derived from the state- 
ments of an eye-witness. 

On the 14th of September, the day before the one fixed 
for the next session, " when the fathers were assembled in 
the usual place, the first president invoked the aid of the 
Holy Spirit in a prayer, which he read, imploring the Lord 
the Holy Spirit to be present with them, to direct them how 
to proceed, to rule their judgments, and not to suffer the 
enemies of righteousness to triumph. ' Let not,' he proceeds, 
■ ignorance betray, favour warp, acceptance of persons cor- 
rupt, our minds ; but, being assembled in thy name, and 
united with each other, grant that, under the influence of 
piety, we may follow righteousness ; so that our decisions here 
may in nothing oppose thine, and that in future we may 
obtain the eternal reward of our good deeds.' He then 
addressed himself to the fathers, to the effect, that they were 
encompassed with difficulties and impediments ; that many 
of them, particularly the French, had so recently arrived, 
that such important matters as were before them could not 
be settled with sufficient gravity and maturity ; that those 
who had all along been present were as yet unprepared, and 
that amidst all their perplexities, increased by the recent 
assassination of the duke of Piacenza, it became necessary to 
omit the session of the morrow, and prorogue it to some 
future time. 

" The president proceeded in his address, informing the 
? Lettrea de Guise, in Ranke, p. 68. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



187 



audience, that, in the midst of their present difficulties, he 
could fix upon no certain time for the next session ; that 
when at Trent they had considered fifteen days sufficient 
for settling the doctrine of justification, which with uninter- 
mitted congregations had occupied them for seven months 
together ; that they were beset by other difficulties arising 
from the turbulence of the times ; that therefore it appeared 
most prudent and advisable to prorogue the next session at 
the pleasure of the council, as might appear most conducive 
to the divine honour; that there did indeed exist some 
reason for fixing the time * that he trusted the present sus- 
pense would not continue long ; and he finally requested the 
fathers to deliver their opinions freely on the subject pro- 
posed." The assent was unanimous. 11 

CHAPTER XIY. 

Further Proceedings of the Pope. Cervini recalled to Borne. 

The German ecclesiastics still continued to urge the resto- 
ration of the council to Trent, and Cardinal Madrucci brought 
word that the emperor, at the recent diet, had persuaded the 
heretical princes, and, with some greater difficulty, the free 
states likewise, to submit themselves to the decrees of the 
council which was to be held in Trent, in which council 
matters should be discussed according to the doctrine of the 
Holy Scriptures and the Fathers. He added, that "the 
emperor, as patron of the Church, had promised to secure 
freedom of speech, safe residence, and a safe-conduct on their 
return, even to those who professed adherence to the Augs- 
burg Confession." 

The pope felt displeased, both because no mention of the 
Apostolic See was made in the document, and because a 
council had been so confidently promised without the con- 
sent of the same see being asked. But to the first objection 
it was answered, that the express mention of the Apostolic 
See had been avoided, in order to prevent disputes about 
words, since the tacit statement, " in accordance with the 

h I am indebted to Mendham's Memoirs, p. 129, sq. for this account. 
He well observes, that this general congregation does not in any way 
deserve the name of a session. 



188 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



doctrine of the Fathers," was held sufficient. As to the 
second, the council had been already agreed upon. 1 

But the pontiff felt unwilling to proceed without the 
advice of Cervini, who had been the chief manager of the 
conciliar offices, and sent for that prelate to come to Rome, 
leaving Del Monte in sole charge. " Many, on parting with 
him, called to mind the injuries which the health of Cervini 
had sustained under the inclemency of the climate of Trent ; 
his untiring diligence both at the public and private assem- 
blies ; his watchings spent in the study of doctrinal points ; 
his skilful investigations on the subject of reform ; his ready 
.dexterity in appeasing dissensions ; his forethought in de- 
vising plans ; his earnestness in the defence of what was 
right ; the strength of mind which led him to oppose the will 
of those more powerful ; the equal firmness which made him 
despise danger, — all these virtues shining forth in one who, 
though second in position, had been foremost in assembling, 
sustaining, defending, and ennobling the council, made him as 
it were the life and soul of its body ; and the tears of the 
fathers of Bologna mourned his departure, as though the 
very life of their body had been torn from them." k 

CHAPTER XV. 

Proceedings of Del Monte at Bologna. 

At the joint advice of Cervini and the cardinals, Paul at 
length, after much consultation, resolved to send a breve, 
dated December 16th, to Del Monte, which reached him 
two days after. After a summary of the affairs which had 
hitherto taken place, the legate was ordered to refer the 
whole matter to the fathers, who were directed to signify 
their opinion to the pontiff with all possible haste. Having 
read the breve, Del Monte proceeded to point out the ad- 
vantages and dangers attendant upon acceding to the pro- 
posed restoration of the council to its former place of session. 
"While, on the one hand, it presented great opportunity of 

1 Pallav. x. 6, 4. The whole book is most important ; but its con- 
tents are far too voluminous and elaborate to be transferred to these 
pages. Father Paul is more agreeable and animated in his narrative ; 
but his chronological arrangement is inaccurate and indistinct. 

k I have translated this spirited eulogium from Pallav. ibid, and 9. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 189 

i 

reconciling Germany and obliging the emperor, King Ferdi- 
nand, and others, it was of equal consequence to consider 
what the dignity of the council demanded. He observed 
that all, whether present or absent, knew under what a 
pressure of necessity, and with what sincerity, freedom, and 
authority the council had been transferred ; and yet many 
bishops still remained at Trent, to the contempt of the 
council, they having resisted both the decree passed in their 
own presence, and the letters subsequently inviting them to 
Bologna in the name of the whole assembly. He, therefore, 
held that, to prevent an evil example being transmitted to 
posterity, it would be better that the contumacious prelates 
should be forced to be present at, and acknowledge the 
authority of, the synod in its present place, than that the 
synod should be transferred to a place, where the contuma- 
cious party persisted in remaining. Moreover, he observed 
that the Protestants had professed themselves willing to 
obey a council to be held at Trent, but had said nothing 
respecting obedience to the decrees already passed j and that 
a clear statement on this head, especially as regarded matters 
of faith, dictated by the unerring influence of the Holy Spirit, 
and, therefore, unfit to be again made subjects of deliberation, 
was not necessary. Again, the Protestants had promised obe- 
dience to a Christian synod, but had not stated what they meant 
by that expression ; and that a report was afloat that they 
wished for a council of laymen, not an assembly consisting of 
bishops, according to the earliest usage of the Church, and 
that they must therefore be called upon for a distinct state- 
ment of the meaning implied by their promise. In the 
fourth place, he thought that care should be taken to secure 
the liberty of the fathers whilst assembled at Trent, and that 
they should not be compelled either to remain or to go away, 
individually or collectively. Lastly, in the instructions of 
the emperor to Madrucci, it was stated that the council 
should last for a long time ; whereas, to secure the necessary 
freedom of the assembly, he held that it was necessary to 
leave the power of breaking up the council wholly in the 
hands of its members. He exhorted them, in considering 
these matters, to keep in view the honour of God, the salva- 
tion of Christians, the dignity of the council, the earnest 
desire of the pontiff to reconcile Germany, and at the same 



190 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



time to do all consistently in their power to satisfy the 
emperor. 

After a document to this effect had been drawn up by the 
secretary Massarelli, it was, after some slight discussion, for- 
warded to Rome, December 24th. The pontiff communicated 
its contents to a special congregation held on the feast of 
St. Stephen, and to a similar meeting on the following day, 1 
at which Don Diego was present. He declared the ac- 
quiescence of himself and the college of cardinals in the five 
points proposed in the document sent from Bologna, made 
strong professions of goodwill towards the German nation, 
and expressed an earnest desire for the settlement of all 
disagreements. 131 

CHAPTEB XVI. 

Protestations against the Demands of the Council. 

Brevity compels me to omit or to touch but slightly on the 
details of the protestations 11 against the demands made by 
the Council of Bologna, and its transference from Trent, first, 
by the procurators of the imperial court, on the 16th of 
January, 1548, who were answered by the legate Del Monte. 
Cervini returned to Bologna two days after ; and, on being 
consulted by Paul by letter, advised him to suspend the 
council. On the 23rd, Don Diego delivered a long oration 
in the Consistory, setting forth the same protest, in which he 

1 The festival of St. John. Pallav. x. 10. 

m Ibid. Here follows a letter written in answer to the prelates lately 
assembled at Augsburg, in which the pope animadverts on their non- 
attendance at the council, alleges that its transfer took place with- 
out his cognizance, but still insists on the legality of that translation, 
and on the suitableness of Bologna. He then apologizes for his delay 
in answering, stating that the despatches brought by Madrucci from 
the emperor, and his communications with Don Diego, were the cause ; 
and at the same time sending a copy of his own answer, in order to 
show what doubtful points had yet to be decided before the return 
to Trent could be settled. Se concludes with an earnest protest 
against the formation of councils independent of the papal see. The 
correspondence on both sides will be found in Le Plat, v. iii. p. 653, 
sqq. and 673, sqq. 

n The whole examinations will be found detailed at great length in 
Pallav. x. 12, sqq. and Le Plat, p. 684, sqq. The notes of Courayer 
on Sarpi, iii. 16, point out some inaccuracies in the reports of that 
historian, who is often, as usual, incorrect in his dates. 



COUNCIL OF TEENT. 



191 



indulged in a praise of the emperor's zeal for the promotion 
of the council, considerably at the expense of the pontiff, 
whom he freely accused of vacillation and negligence. A 
reply was drawn up by Cardinal Pole, concluding with the 
following proposal : That whereas, in the protestation many 
reasons have been alleged to prove that the transference of the 
council had been without right or reason, the pontiff, with 
the view of preserving the unity of the Church, or reuniting 
its members with J esus Christ, their head, proposed to take 
the arbitration of the cause upon himself, and to refer the 
question of the lawfulness of the transference to four cardinals, 
chosen from various nations. He named Bellai, bishop of 
Paris, Di Burgos, Crescenzio, and Pole ; at the same time 
inhibiting any proceedings till such matter should be settled. 
A few vain efforts were made to reconcile Don Diego, and he 
left Borne on Ash- Wednesday, February 15th. 

The pontiff, who had contrived to use a happy neutrality 
throughout his latter dealings with the ambassador, now 
addressed a breve to the legates at Bologna, prohibiting them 
from proceeding with any conciliar measures, and requiring 
them to send a legal report of the transference of the council, 
together with three bishops at the least, to represent the 
assembly, and render an account of the whole affair. He 
had thought of sending for the legates ; but, reflecting on the 
imperfect and ill-organized condition of the synod, he feared 
that it might be dangerous to deprive it of their controlling 
influence. He at the same time despatched another breve 
to Trent, pointing out the pain which the dissension (he 
might well have said schism) of the bishops had occasioned 
him, and complaining of their conduct in not following the 
rest, or, at least, in not sending him a statement of their 
reasons for renouncing their obligations to, and denying the 
legality of, the transference. He concluded by stating that, 
although he had hitherto held that the transference had been 
on lawful grounds, now that it was called in question, he 
would take upon himself the duties of an upright judge, and 
give ear to their objections or reasons. He also requested 
them to send three bishops to lay before him the reasons of 
their opposition. 



192 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTEE XVII. 

Conduct of the Prelates. 

The policy of the pontiff was far from displeasing to the 
emperor ;° and, as far as the fathers at Bologna were con- 
cerned, matters seemed likely to be in favour of the measure 
proposed by Paul. But the bishop of Fiesole wished to agree 
to the restoration of the council to Trent ; and some others, 
and amongst them the bishop of Armagh, questioned the 
propriety of acknowledging the right of a superior tribunal 
to arbitrate a matter already decided by the council. Five 
others, who were more vehement in their protestations 
against the pope's assumption of the right of canvassing their 
decisions, were intimidated into silence. Three absented 
themselves in consequence from the next meeting, and the 
other two explained away what they had said. Such was 
the liberty of this free and general council — a mere tool in 
the hands of the pope — a toy for which the imperial and the 
pontifical eourts were contending, and which, whilst incapable 
of even asserting its independence, was to speak forth the 
bidding of the Spirit of God, and make laws to bind the 
souls and consciences of men ! 

But the bishops who remained at Trent were still more 
refractory, and their reply, although couched in terms of 
the utmost mildness, showed an evident determination not 
to leave Trent except by the emperor's permission. Nor did 
they send the bishops whom the pontiff had required. 

The cardinals who had been appointed to investigate the 
matter were completely taken aback, and knew not how 
to proceed. " To pronounce the translation lawful, in the 
absence of the contradictors, was to make a schism, having 
no means to enforce them to receive the sentence ; and they 
saw still less means to force them to assist in the cause. The 
pope was much troubled, seeing no way to compose the 
difficulty without form of judgment." P 

° See some acute remarks in Pallav. x. 14, § 3. 
p Brent's Sarpi, p. 269, sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



193 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

State of Affairs between the Pope and the Emperor. 

Meanwhile, the death of Pietro Luigi, the pope's son, and 
the occupation of Piacenza by the imperial troops, had not 
been jmssed over in silence by the pontiff. To obtain the 
restitution of Piacenza and Parma, he had hoped to make 
use of the mediation of the emperors daughter, wife to Ot- 
tavio. son of the deceased. But she had all along disliked 
the Farnese family, cared little for her husband, and declared 
that " she would rather cut off her child's head than make 
any request to her father that might be displeasing to him." f i 
But the emperor, who wished to join Piacenza to the duchy 
of Milan, and to make other compensation to his son-in-law, 
made various excuses and delays, hoping that the declining 
years of the pontiff, and his increasing vexations and ill 
health, would shortly remove him from the world, and end 
the controversy. Enraged at being thus foiled, and harassed 
by the determination of the prelates to remain at Trent, 
Paul began to have recourse to threats. He reminded the 
emperor " that the usurpers of Piacenza, a town belonging to 
the Church, had incurred the censures, to the declaration of 
which he would proceed, fulminating also more of them, if, 
within a certain time prefixed, it were not restored to him." r 
The emperor retorted, declaring that Piacenza was a member 
of the duchy of Milan, many years unjustly usurped by the 
popes ; but that, if they could prove a title to it, he would 
not fail to do justice. Finding spiritual terrors of little 
■avail, Paul sought to form with Trance, Switzerland, and 
Venice, a league at first defensive, but of which he himself 
says, that it was " the door to an offensive league." s But 
although he made many preparations, and constantly dis- 
cussed the bearings of a scheme which his advanced age 
rendered almost impossible, he never completed the contem- 
plated league, never took one step which was likely to prove 
decisive. " For the council/' continues Father Paul, " he was 
most resolute not to let it be out of his own territories, and 

* Ranke, p. 68. r Brent's Sarpi, p. 270. 

s See Ranke, p. 68. 
O 



194 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



besides other urgent reasons, that of his own and the pope- 
dom's reputation was added, that the emperor should not 
compel him. But he knew not how to induce him and Ger- 
many to give consent. To let it vanish, sometimes seemed 
good unto him, and sometimes not ; and he often discoursed 
thereof with the cardinal, both in consistory and privately." 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Interim, 

The emperor, while he avoided any measures of direct 
hostility, was much too powerful to be in any fear of the 
pope. He had solemnly protested against the sittings of the 
assembly at Bologna ; and now, finding that no progress was 
made towards re-establishing good-feeling in Germany, he 
followed the example of Henry VIII., and resolved to con- 
stitute himself judge of the points at issue, and to take some 
measures for the settlement of religious disorders. Julius 
Flug, bishop of Naumberg, Michael Sidonius, both papists, 
and John Agricola, of Eisleben, a heretic, were appointed to 
draw up a series of propositions relative to doctrine % and, 
after undergoing considerable alteration, it was published 
under the title of Interim. The heads of it were as follows : 
— I. Of the state of man in innocency. II. Of the state of 
man after sin. III. Of the redemption by Christ. IV. Of 
justification. V. Of the fruits thereof. VI. Of the manner 
how it is received. VII. Of charity and good works. 
VIII. Of belief of the remission of sins. IX. Of the Church. 
X. Of the signs of the true Church. XI. Of the •authority 
thereof. XII. Of the ministers of the Church. XIII. Of 
the pope and bishops. XIV. Of the sacraments. XV. Of 
baptism. XVI. Of confirmation. XVII. Of penance. 
XVIII. Of the eucharist. XIX. Of extreme unction. 
XX. Of orders. XXL Of marriage. XXII. Of the sacri- 
fice of the mass. XXIII. Of the memory, intercession, and 
invocation of saints. XXIV. Of the communion. XXV. Of 
the ceremonies. XXVI. Of the use of the sacraments.* 

1 The compromising character of the Interim has been sharply 
attacked by Mendham, p. 134, sq. It will be found in Le Plat, b. iv. 
pp. 32-69, and in Goldast's Constitutions Imperiales, v. i. p. 518, sqq. 
Soames, on Mosheim, v. iii. p. 153, gives the following abstract of the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



195 



A copy of this dishonest and unavailing compromise was 
sent to Rome, where it excited much surprise, that a secular 
prince should have ventured to prescribe a rule of faith ; 
while Cardinal Farnese declared that he could point out 
seven or eight heresies in the articles it propounded. 11 Others 
alleged various objections, both to its doctrines and to the 
obvious interference with the council ; which would be ren- 
dered of no effect if the opinions of a prince were to be 
passed into a law, — a prince, moreover, " whose cunning was 
more to be suspected than ever, seeing that he made so 
earnest a request that the council should return to Trent, 
and did, at the same time, take away all authority from 
whatsoever was constituted by it." x There was no doubt, 
that whilst a convenient ambiguity had been observed, with 
the view of conciliating or deceiving 'the reformers, much of 
Roman belief was tacitly obliterated, or asserted in qualify- 
ing and doubtful terms. For instance, "in the article of the 
Church, that it hath not derived unity from the visible head, 
which is essential ; and, which is worse, hath made a church 
invisible by charity, and then made the same visible. That 
it is a secret artifice to destroy the hierarchy, and establish 
the Lutheran opinion. That to have made notes of the 
Church's soundness of doctrine, and the lawful use of the 
sacraments, hath given a way to all sects to hold obstinately 
themselves to be the Church, concealing the true mark, 
which is obedience to the Pope of Rome." All the court 
were unanimous in denouncing a measure calculated to sap 

points at issue, which it modified or substantiated: — "Its twenty-six 
articles were drawn up with great care, and in a very conciliatory spirit. 
On most doctrinal points, such as man's primitive rectitude, apostasy, 
original sin, redemption by Christ, necessity of divine grace, human 
merit, &c, it adopted very much scriptural views and language, and 
might have been assented to by the Protestants, without sacrificing, 
perhaps, any fundamental truths. But it retained the mass, all the 
seven sacraments, the hierarchy, the traditions, the ceremonies, in short 
the whole exterior of the Catholic establishment and worship, with the 
sole exceptions of tolerating the marriage of the clergy, and communion 
in both kinds. Yet it limited the authority of the pontiff, and so 
examined the grounds and uses of the Romish rites, as to make them 
the least offensive possible." 
u Mendoca, in Ranke, p. 69. 

x Sarpi, p. 2/2. I shall henceforth confine my references to Brent's 
., translation, except when the reverse is stated. 

2 



196 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the foundations of Romanism, and to make the Apostolic 
See little else than a tributary to, and dependent upon, the 
will of a prince, who had shown himself more than a match 
for all the difficulties which dissension at home, and intrigue 
on the opposite side, could oppose to his rapidly progressing 
success. 

cc But the old pope," as Father Paul cleverly observes, 
" with the acuteness of his judgment, saw more than them 
all. and judged that the enterprise would be good for him, 
and pernicious for the emperor. He marvelled much at the 
wisdom and counsel of so great a prince, that by one victory, 
he should think he was made judge of all mankind, and 
presuppose he was able to contest with both parties. That 
a prince adhering to one might suppress another, but to con- 
tend vvith both was too much boldness of vanity. He fore- 
saw that the doctrine would generally more displease the 
Catholics than the court, and the Protestants most of all, 
and that it would be impugned by all, and defended by 
none : wherein there was no need of his pains, because his 
enemies would work for him more than himself could do ; 
and that it was better to permit the publication of it than 
to hinder it ; and rather being in this state in which it is 
than when it is reformed, that it may more easily fail." 

But he was at the same time unwilling to let the emperor 
perceive the real state of the case, and desirous to put him 
upon the business as soon as possible, and to do the Pro- 
testants some injury. To effect the first object, he resolved 
to make some trifling opposition to the tenets of the Inte- 
rim ; as to the second, he resolved to set on foot the interests 
of the German prelates ; and for the third, " to make it 
cunningly appear that this doctrine was collected, not to 
unite both parties, but only to curb the Protestants. By 
which means a great point was gained, that is, that a secular 
prince did not make articles of faith for the faithful, but for 
those that erred." 

" He therefore sent instructions to Cardinal Sfondrato to 
make some opposition ; and when the doctrine should be 
published (that he might not be present), to take leave and 
be gone. The cardinal, according to his commission, declared 
in the pope's name, that the permission to continue the 
receiving of the cup in the holy communion, though he that 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



197 



receiveth it is not to be reprehended (the custom of receiv- 
ing the sacrament under both kinds being abrogated long 
since), was a thing reserved to the pope * as also the granting 
of marriage to the priests ; and the rather, because it hath 
never been used in the Church j and the Greeks and Eastern 
people, who do not bind them to a single life, do grant that 
married men may receive orders, and keeping their wives, 
may exercise the ministry, but do not, nor ever did, permit 
them to many who were in orders before. He added, that 
without doubt, if his majesty would grant these things to 
be lawful, he should grievously offend the majesty of God ; 
but holding them unlawful, he might permit them to the 
heretics as a lesser evil. It is tolerable, and belongeth to 
the wisdom of a prince, where all evils cannot be removed, 
to suffer the least, that the greater may be rooted out. 
That his holiness, perusing the book, saw it was only a 
permission to the Lutherans, that they may not without end 
pass from one error to another ; and that it is not granted 
to the Catholics to believe or to do anything but according 
to the prescript of the holy Apostolic See, which only, as 
mistress of the faithful, may make decrees in point of reli- 
gion. And being assured that this was his majesty's pur- 
pose, he told him it would be necessary to make an express 
declaration thereof, and not to give the reins so much to the 
Lutherans, especially in the power of changing ceremonies ; 
considering that in the last point, he seemed to give them 
too much liberty, where he granteth that the ceremonies 
which may give cause to superstition, should be taken away. 
He added, that the Lutherans would hold it lawful to retain 
the ecclesiastical goods, and jurisdiction usurped, if they 
were not commanded to make restitution : wherein a coun- 
cil was not to be expected, but execution presently made, 
and that the spoils being notoriously known, he need not 
observe the nice points of law, but proceed summarily, and 
with his princely power." y 

After much debating and disputing, the Interim obtained 
the sanction and acceptance of the diet, but with little satis- 
faction to either party. If it answered any purpose what- 

y P. 273. It is fair to state that the whole of this statement of Sarpi's 
is more or less impugned by Pallavicino, ch. xviii. ; but the defence of 
Courayer, p. 539, seems satisfactory. 



198 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ever, it was perhaps in showing more distinctly the broad 
line of demarcation between Catholicism and the reformed 
religion, and in proving the impossibility of a union without 
involving ruin to the most vital principles of popery. Al- 
though the Interim speedily became a dead letter, it was 
nevertheless translated into several languages, and exten- 
sively circulated. 

CHAPTER XX. 

The Emperor puts forward Propositions of Reformation. 

On the 14th of June the emperor published a series of 
'articles touching religious reform, as follows : — 1. Of ordina- 
tion and election of ministers. 2. Of the office of the eccle- 
siastical orders. 3. Of the office of deans and canons. 4. Of 
canonical hours. 5. Of monasteries. 6. Of schools and 
universities. 7. Of hospitals. 8. Of the office of a preacher. 
9. Of the administration of the sacraments. 10. Of the 
orders of baptism. 11. Of the orders of confirmation. 
12. Of ceremonies. 13. Of the mass. 14. Of the adminis- 
tration of penance. 15. Of the administration of extreme 
unction. 16. Of the orders of matrimony. 17. Of eccle- 
siastical ceremonies. 18. Of the discipline of the clergy and 
people. 19. Of plurality of benefices. 20. Of the discipline 
of the people. 21. Of visitations. 22. Of councils. 23. Of 
excommimications. Sarpi speaks in high terms of the equity 
and reasonableness of the precepts contained in these arti- 
cles, as well as their freedom from the cavils which were 
likely to embarrass or deceive the unlearned. He adds : 
" If it had been made by the prelates only, it would not 
have displeased at Home, except in two points; namely, 
where it giveth authority to the Council of Basle, and in 
some other places, where it meddleth with dispensations and 
exemptions, and other things reserved to the pope. But 
being made by the emperor's authority, it seemed more 
unsupportable than the Interim. For it is a fundamental 
maxim of the court of Home, that the seculars, of what de- 
gree or honesty soever, cannot give a law to the clergy, 
although to a good end. But, because they could not 
choose, they supported the tyranny (for so they said) which 
they were not then able to resist." 2 



z P. 274, sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



199 



Nevertheless^ these articles of reform shared the fate and 
the oblivion which befell the Interim, and the Diet of 
Augsburg closed on the last day of June. The Recess 
was published, in which the emperor promised to secure 
the continuance of the council at Trent, and that with all 
possible speed; at the same time promising a safe-conduct 
to all the ecclesiastics then present, as well as to those 
advocating the Confession of Augsburg. But the attempted 
compromise proved an utter failure, and the further its 
documents were circulated, the stronger became the dis- 
satisfaction both of Catholics and Protestants. The elector 
of Saxony took a middle ground between the views of 
both, and held several consultations with the learned on 
the subject of the doctrines of the Interim. But Melanc- 
thon, " whom the other theologians followed, partly from 
fear of the emjDeror, and partly from condescension to his 
sovereign, decided that the whole instrument called the 
Interim could by no means be admitted ; but that there 
was no impediment to receiving and approving it so far as 
it concerned things not esseutial in religion, or things indif- 
ferent"* 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Refusal of the Emperor to yield up Piacenza. Last Efforts of the Pope in 
f avoici of the Assembly at Bologna. 

The question of the surrender of Piacenza was at length 
set at rest by the positive refusal of the emperor. In vain 
did Paul appeal to the treaty of 1521, in which Piacenza 
had been guaranteed to the Roman See ; " the emperor 
pointed to the word ' investiture,' by which the empire had 
asserted its own right of sovereignty. The pope rejoined, 
that the word was here employed otherwise than in the 
feudal sense : the emperor carried the discussion no further, 
but declared that his conscience forbade him to give back 
Piacenza." b 

And now the pontiff would gladly have availed himself of 
his interest with France, and have made use of his numerous 
partisans, but he dreaded the fast-growing influence of the 

a Mosheim, I. c. p. 154. Hence arose the subsequent controversy in 
the Lutheran church irepi twv dSiacpopiov, on things indifferent. 
b Eanke, p. 69. 



200 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



emperor, even in ecclesiastical matters. Recent events, in 
which those of his own family had borne a sad and tragical 
part, were sufficient to make him tremble for the security of 
his pontificate, if not to dread attempts against his personal 
safety. 

Driven to despair by the vexations which were rising on 
all sides, and impeded in proceeding either way by the 
pertinacity with which the emperor still put forth the Tnie- 
rim, and opposed the assembly at Bologna, Paul resolved 
to try what could be done by calling a select committee of 
members from the prelates assembled both at Trent and at 
Bologna, to take measures for the promotion of ecclesiastical 
reform. Accordingly, Cardinal Pacheco ; Pietro Tagliavia, 
archbishop of Palermo ; Francesco Navarra, bishop of Bada- 
joz ; and Giambernardo Diaz, of Calaorra, were summoned 
from Trent : Olaus Magnus, archbishop of Upsal ; Sebastian 
Leccavela, of Naxos ; Giovanni Hangeste, archbishop of 
Noyon ; and Richard Pate, bishop of Worcester. But here 
again he was foiled. The Tridentine bishops, after waiting 
twenty-one days for the emperor's commands, returned a 
polite, but most unmistakably firm refusal to quit the 
original seat of the council. 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Suspension of the Council, 

The difficulties of the Roman court had attained their 
culminating point, and the best counsellors of the pope 
scarcely knew what to advise. Del Monte dreaded the 
suspension of the council, while the emperor's party still 
persisted in remaining at Trent, and the legitimacy of the 
transfer was as yet undetermined. The pope was hindered 
by the threats of Don Diego from declaring the legitimacy 
of that transaction, and the scheme of a select council at 
Rome had proved a total failure. But nature was giving 
way rapidly, and a violent attack of dysentery rendered the 
pontiff so enfeebled in mind and body, that his advisers 
became unanimous in favour of what many of them had 
dreaded. d The fear that impelled them to this step was, 



c Pallav. xi. 4. 



* Ibid. xi. 5, 1. 



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201 



lest, in the event of Paul's decease, the two adverse parties 
might each lay claim to the privilege of electing a successor 
— a state of things which might have once more revived the 
disgraceful spectacle of two popes anathematizing each other, 
and have strengthened a schism which was already too ap- 
parent. The following severe, but unfortunately correct 
remarks of Mendham deserve a place in these pages : — 

" The schismatic council, which was convoked for the 
purpose of healing both heresy and schism, protracted its 
being in Bologna in a very ambiguous manner. It was 
a council and no council, — the head of the two factions into 
which it was divided, without being able to control the 
inferior and refractory one. Germany and its emperor, which 
it was principally called to benefit, were neglected and foiled, 
and of consequence dissatisfied. It was time, therefore, that 
so useless an assembly should in some way expire. The 
pontiff himself accordingly inflicted upon it somewhat of an 
honourable death : he sealed its formal suspension. In fact, 
he had intended to take the matter of his own reformation 
into his own hands ; and he could not do so without casting 
contempt on an existing council. He therefore commanded 
the president to dismiss the bishops. This was done by a 
letter of Cardinal Farnese to Del Monte, dated the 13th of 
September, 1549, and the order was executed on the 17th : 
it was signified at the same time, that it was the intention 
of the pontiff that the council should be continued, but that 
decrees for restoring discipline should be enacted at Koine." e 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

■pi^Yta&q aioisqme &di ouffw <uomrot> out io ' ixo&mq&&* 
Death of Paul III. 

The death of great men is, in too many instances, only 
the consummation of a long series of disappointments and 
vexations; and their last reflections are embittered by the 
consciousness of parting from cherished schemes, which, like 

e " This is the representation of Pallavicino, who idly triumphs over 
Sarpi for saying that the council slept on for two years. The fact of 
the suspension is supported by the Acts and Diaries of the council. 
His own testimony is satisfactory (xi. 4, 4). It may be added, that 
the suspension is expressly recognised in the Bull of Resumption." — 
Mendham, note, p. 136. 



202 



THE HISTOEY OF THE 



themselves, may pass into the oblivion of after-ages. The 
death-beds of those, whose political career has had the greatest 
influence upon the condition of their own times seldom 
present scenes upon which the eye can gaze with satisfac- 
tion : their sphere of action has been too large to allow of per- 
fect maturity, and the uncertain results of a life of intrigue 
present a blank in the accounts of human life, which pain- 
fully declares to how little effect it has been spent. Even if 
the bitter consciousness of often-sacrificed honesty, of vio- 
lated faith, and of interest, basely assuming the name of 
religion, does not cross the brow, and rouse the ebbing 
powers of thought with a goad that pricks most acutely in 
'the fields of death, disappointment, and hope deferred, but 
now taken from us for ever, must embitter the last thoughts 
of those who have lived for the glory of the world. 

But, as though greatness were born with its own outward 
punishments likewise — as though it were destined to be 
taught its own unworthmess beforehand, and, by suffering, 
itself to become a warning to those who bask in its shine, 
while they envy its beams — it seldom happens that the 
greatest players at the game of nations pass from this world 
without suffering the outward harassments to which even 
their best deeds seem to have exposed them. Still less do 
we find, that the evil consequences of deeds, in which com- 
punction — transactions, in which principle — have borne no 
share, fail to bring punishment often through those who 
have benefited them, or that the receiver of a benefit 
unrighteously bestowed does not become the scourge of his 
benefactor. This moral is painfully illustrated in the last 
days of Pope Paul III. 

I have already, I trust, sufficiently explained the position 
in which the pope's nepotism in respect to the duchy of Pia- 
cenza had placed him with other powers. So ripened was 
the . hatred between the pope and the emperor, so violent 
the contentions between the Italian parties, that the very 
life of the pope seemed placed in danger. Finding the 
necessity of doing something, Paul at length resolved, " since 
not only his house's title to Piacenza, but even that of the 
Church was disputed, to give back that dukedom to the lat- 
ter." But, as Ranke f well observes, " this was the first time 

f P. 70. 



COUNCIL OF TRE>~T. 



203 



he had ever clone anything contrary to the interests of his 
grandchildren. He thought he possessed imlimited authority 
over them ; he had always lauded them, and deemed himself 
fortunate in their faultless obedience. But the difference 
was, that till now he had always striven for their manifest 
advantage ; now, on the contrary, he proposed a measure at 
variance therewith." 

At first they made use of mdirect means to divert the 
pope from his intention. They represented that the day 
appointed for holding a consistory was inauspicious, being 
St. Roque's, and that the contemplated exchange of Came- 
rino for Piacenza would be disadvantageous rather than 
beneficial to the Church. All their arguments were in vain ; 
and Paul gave orders to Camillo Orsino, governor of Parma, 
to keep possession of that city in the name of the Church, 
and to give it up to no one on any pretext whatsoever. 

But the Farnese were too eagerly bent on the acquisition of 
a power, which placed them on a level with the independent 
princes of Italy ; and Ottavio made an attempt (unsuccessful 
it is true, but no less harrowing to the mind of his grand- 
father) to get possession of Parma ; and although foiled by 
the foresight and determination of Camillo, he had struck 
a deadly blow against the happiness of the old man, u for 
whom, at the close of his days, it was destined to see his 
grandsons, to whom he had manifested so much affectionate 
partiality, for whose advantage he had heaped on himself 
the reproaches of the world,? now rebelling against him." 

I cannot pursue this history better than in the words ot 
the admirable biographer of these times, Banke, whose just 
appreciation of the more amiable traits of Paul's character 
gives an additional value to his clear and spirited view of the 
intrigues that sullied a life, in which dignified firmness had 
been the fairest jewel — a gem, however, to which the cha- 
racter of times and circumstances denied its proper setting. 

" Even the failure of his attempts did not deter Ottavio 
from his purpose. He wrote to the pope, telling him flatly, 
that if Parma was not restored to him by fair meaus, he 

5 Ranke's remarks are well borne out by Pallavicino's observation, 
who, in summing up the character of this pontiff, says : " Con V affetto 
soperchio verso la sua discendenza mostrossi huomo : per tutto il resto 
merito nella chiesa il nome d'Eroe." — xi. 6, p. 914. 



204 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



would make peace with Ferrante Gonzaga, and endeavour 
to possess himself of it with the help of the imperial arms. 
And in fact his negotiations with that mortal enemy of his 
house were already far advanced ; a courier had been de- 
spatched to the emperor with the definitive proposal. The 
pope complained loudly that he was betrayed by his own 
kindred ; their conduct was such as must bring him to the 
grave. What wounded him most deeply was, that the 
rumour arose he had himself been privy to Ottavio's pro- 
ceedings, and had taken a part in them belying his open 
professions. He told Cardinal Este that never in his life had 
anything caused him such anguish, not even Pietro Luigi's 
death, nor the seizure of Piacenza. But he would not leave 
the world in any doubt as to his real sentiments. His only 
consolation was, that at least Alessandro Farnese, the cardinal, 
was innocent and devoted to him. He gradually became 
convinced that the latter too, in whom he trusted wholly, 
and to whose hands were committed the entire manage- 
ment of public affairs, was but too well aware of the matter, 
and had been a consenting party to it. This discovery broke 
his heart. On the day of All Souls (Nov. 2, 1549), he com- 
municated it to the Venetian ambassador in bitter anguish 
of soul. The day following, he went to seek if possible 
some relief of mind to his vigna on Monte Cavallo. But} he 
found no repose. He sent for Cardinal Alessandro ; one 
word brought on another • the pope burst into the most 
violent paroxysm of anger, snatched his nephew's cap out of 
his hand, and dashed it on the ground. The court already 
anticipated a change : it was generally supposed the pope 
would remove the cardinal from the administration. But 
it did not come to that. This violent agitation of mind, at 
the advanced age of eighty-three, was fatal to the old man. 
He was immediately taken sick, and died a few days after- 
wards, on the 10th of Nov. 1549. All ranks flocked to kiss 
his foot. He was as much beloved as his grandsons were 
hated : that he had met with his death through their means, 
on whom he had bestowed most kindness, moved every one 
to pity." 11 

Such was the end of Paul III., a man who, had he fallen 



h Eanke, p. 70. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



205 



amidst less temptations than those of the papal see, 
must have commanded the unqualified admiration of poste- 
rity. But he had been the victim of the allurements of 
wealth and aggrandizement, before which human nature is 
ever prone to fall ; he had ennobled those, who were destined 
to embitter his last days, and his gray hairs were robbed of 
their kindliest honour — the peaceful death-bed of one sur- 
rounded by the faces of those whose happiness he has 
created, but to whose meaner interests he has never sacri- 
ficed his integrity. Bitter must have been the reflection 
that his selfish and crafty antagonist still remained in the 
field ? and that the glory of papal independence, for which he 
had fought so stoutly and so long, was now to be forced to 
yield to the interests of a temporal opponent, who had ever 
availed himself of the power of popery against others; had 
ever proved an unfaithful adherent, when no motive of per- 
sonal advantage called for his interference. And this very 
enemy, who had counterplotted his best attempts at offence 
or resistance, had been abetted and aided by those, whom the 
ties of blood had linked, and whom a thousand obligations 
ought to have bound to himself ! A more genuine Italian 
episode can scarcely be found than the circumstances imme- 
diately preceding the death of this pontiff. A stronger 
and more vividly-painted representation of human nature, 
developed in a variety of contending parties, sacrificing 
each other alternately on the altar of selfishness, and becom- 
ing alternately the dupe and the duped, the deceiver and 
the victim, cannot be found in the pages of history. 

CHAPTER XXIY. 

Cardinal Bel Monte appointed Successor to Paul III. 

Various had been the opinions as to the choice of a suc- 
cessor. The Imperialist party had looked upon Cardinal Pole 
as the fittest personage, and while the French inclined to 
Salviati, the Farnese, who held the casting vote between 
the two other parties, preferred Pole. At the instigation, 
however, of Cardinal Theatine, who accused him of a ten- 
dency to Lutheranism, the Farnese and French parties com- 
bined in favour of Giammaria del Monte. 1 He w^as elected 

* Sarpi, p. 28, sq. Courayer, p. 553. 



206 



THE HISTOEY OP THE 



Feb. 7th, 1550 ; and, in memory of Julius II., whose cham- 
berlain he had been, he took the pontifical name of Julius III. 

Although, as will hereafter be shown, the subsequent 
behaviour of this man evinces a careless levity strangely 
inconsistent with the responsibilities he was now called upon 
to discharge, while his impetuous and irascible temper 
were previously well known, and weighed against his chance 
of success, k all parties felt satisfied with his election. Even 
the Imperialists were reconciled to it, " because Cosmo, duke 
of Florence, made them believe that he favoured the French 
no more than his gratitude to the pope had constrained him ; 
,so that, this cause being removed, he would carry himself 
uprightly." Ranke well observes : " It was part and parcel 
of the pre-eminence of fortune and power, at which the 
emperor then found himself arrived, that at last a pope, on 
whose devotedness he could reckon, ascended the papal 
chair. He still regarded it as of extreme importance, that 
the council should again be established in Trent ; he still 
hoped to compel the Protestants to attend to it, and to 
submit to its authority. The new pope received the propo- 
sition with cordiality. If he did set forth the difficulties 
inherent in the matter, his only anxiety was, lest he should 
be thought to put them forward as excuses : he was never 
tired of protesting that this was not so ; he had acted all 
his days without subterfuge or pretence, and would ever 
maintain the same conduct. He did actually appoint the 
renewal of the council for the spring of 1551, declaring that 
he did so without pact or condition." 1 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Translation of the Council. 

But this measure was not realized at once. Much alter- 
cation took place before an answer could be returned to the 
earnest requests of the emperor for the restoration of the 
council to its former seat. The old difficulties, arising from 
the fear of prejudicing the pontifical power, were revived, 
and the dread of displaying anything like fear m served to 

k Kanke, p. 71. 1 Ibid. 

ra Sarpi, p. 284, sq. The speeches on both sides with which this his- 
torian presents us are highly interesting. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



207 



temper the concessions which the new pope seemed willing 
to make to the emperor. Besides, it was thought that the 
council could only be held at Trent, considering that the 
decision of the question touching the lawfulness of its trans- 
ference to Bologna had been taken in hand by the late pontiff, 
and that it would first be necessary for that cause to be 
decided by the present one, who, as legate, had been the 
prime mover and supporter of the transference to Bologna. 
Again, setting other reasons apart, and considering the 
matter of fact only, the French themselves confessed that an 
oecumenical synod would never be able to assemble in a place, 
from which the emperor, with his present great power, was 
averse : and he himself was bitterly opposed to making- 
choice of any other city more likely to please the Germans. 11 
He therefore determined to recall the assembly to Trent. 

Two matters were still necessary to be considered j one, 
the consent of Henry II. of France ; the other, the arrange- 
ment of some settled principle by which the proceedings of 
the session should be regulated, with the view of preventing 
unnecessary delays and troubles. Cardinal de Guise was 
intrusted with the first, and was directed to make known 
the determination of the pontiff to take no steps without 
consulting the French king ; for the second, the secretary 
Massarelli was deputed to draw up a list of such matters as 
had been proposed, but not yet settled, in the council — a 
labour in which Cervini, Pole, and Morone were afterwards 
associated. Frequent meetings were held on this subject, as 
well as on the framing of a bull for the holding of the 
council, a matter for which the emperor, being on the point 
of setting out for Spain, was most anxious, and who had 
received assurances from the pontiff that all possible prompt- 
ness should be used in its promotion. 

In the diet held at Augsburg, July 26th, the emperor 
propounded the prosecution of the council, and the observation 
of the Interim in the mean while. " This," as SleidanP observes, 
* was also an armed diet, though the state of affairs was 
somewhat more peaceable now.'' The electors of Mentz and 

n Pallav. 3d. 8, 5. 

° Pallav. xi. 8, §6, 11, § 1. The injunctions given to the nuncios 
will be found in 9, § 1, sqq. 

p Bk. xxii. p. 489, Bohun's translation, fol. Lond. 1689. 



208 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Treves were present, the duke of Bavaria, and, after some 
time, the duke of Brunswick; but the rest were represented 
by ambassadors. The representative of Duke Maurice, the 
new elector of Saxony, alleged that " he in nowise approved 
of the council ; next, that all matters should be reviewed, and 
handled anew from the very beginning ; that the divines of 
the Augustan confession should not only be heard, but also 
have deliberative and decisive voices ;<i that the pope should 
submit to the council, and not preside 1 therein, and release 
the bishops from their oaths, that they might speak with 
greater freedom." s The ambassador wished his speech to be 
filtered on the minutes of the assembly; but this request was 
refused by the archbishop of Mentz, who, as chancellor of the 
empire, had the sole power of preventing it being reported. It 
is unnecessary to add, that the request itself was unhesita- 
tingly refused. 

About the end of this month, Granvell, who had for 
twenty years been the chief minister of state, and who had 
gained the most secret confidence of Charles Y. by his un- 
varying attention and wary policy, died, and was succeeded 
by his son Antonio, bishop of Arras, who had been early 
imbued with a taste for, and a skill in, public affairs. 

CHAPTER XXYI. 

Bull for the Resumption of the Council. 

The pope well perceived, that if further time were spent 
in the dispute as to whether the decrees already made should 
be received, the progress of the council would be hopelessly 
retarded ; and to insist upon this point with the emperor, 
might only give him a distaste to the whole proceedings, and, 
by exciting renewed vexation on account of the transactions 
at Bologna, bring on greater difficulties than at present 
presented themselves. Naturally idle and pleasure-loving, 
the new pope doubtless had a better love for the emoluments, 

The same wish was subsequently expressed by the judicious Vargas, 
as will be seen hereafter. 

r The claims of the pope to be head of such councils are briefly, but 
clearly, disproved by Geddes, " The Council of Trent plainly discovered 
not to have been a Tree Assembly," 8vo. Lond. 1714, sub init. 

s Sleidan, ibid. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



209 



than the duties, of his office ; yet, possessed of an amount 
of activity strangely inconsistent with the dissolute and 
abandoned amusements t of his leisure hours, enjoying an 
experience which his quickness of mind had enabled him to 
glean amidst his many ill-spent days — and, moreover, roused 
to determination by a sense of the dangerous situation in 
which he had found the pontificate, — Julius III. determined 
to take the acceptance of previous decrees for granted. But 
while he was bold thus far, he cared not to run the risk of 
disobliging the emperor. Having framed, dated, u and sealed 
the bull, he sent it to the emperor for his approbation. In 
this bull the council was indicted to be resumed at Trent, on 
the 1st of May of the following year, 1551. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Different Opinions thereon. 

They who examine the tenor of this bull, will perceive 
that its wording retains all the phraseology which had so 
often irritated the Protestant party. Not one iota is de- 
tracted from papal assumption, and the tone of conciliation 
adopted is simply formal and unmeaning. If we may believe 
the statements of Sarpi, the emperor's ambassador entreated 
the pope to modify some of the expressions, and to adopt 
phrases more likely to promote the reconciliation, which was 
avowedly the purpose of the council j arguing, u that, as wild 
beasts, taken in a snare, must be drawn gently, making show 
to yield unto them, nor must be showed the fire, or arms, for 
fear of provoking them, and putting them in despair, which 
will increase their forces ; so must the Protestants be used, 
who with gentleness, and by instructing and hearing them, 
must be brought to the council, where being arrived, it will 
be a fit time to show them the truth." The pope replied, 
Ci that he would not fight with a cat shut up, x but would have 

* See Bayle's Dictionary, article Julius III. It is doubtful whether 
this pontiff was not, nevertheless, a much more respectable character 
than many of his predecessors. But he had no conspicuous traits of 
greatness. 

u It was dated November 14th, 1550. See Decrees and Canons, 
p. 66, sqq. 

x A remark quite in character with this pontiff's taste for low wit, of 
which Bayle has given several examples. 

P 



210 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



it at liberty, that it might fly ; that to bring the Protestants 
with fair words to the council, where the deeds would not be 
answerable, was to put them in despair, and make them take 
some rash resolution ; and, therefore, what was to be done, 
was to be told them plainly." The other rejoined : " That it 
was true in things necessary or fit to be spoken ; but he saw 
not how it was then fit to say, that it belongeth unto him to 
direct councils; that these things are most true ; but that 
truth hath not the privilege to be spoken at all times, and in 
all places ; and that it is good to conceal it, when the uttering 
of it doth produce a bad effect ; that he should remember, that 
by the hot speeches of Leo X. and his legate Caietan, the 
fire was kindled which now burnetii, but which, with a gentle 
word, might have been put out ; that the popes following, 
especially Clement and Paul, wise princes, did often complain 
of it. If Germany may now be gained with dexterous 
usage, why should it be more separated with bitterness V? 

Further discussion ensued ; but the pope was inflexible, and 
eventually published a breve confirming the bull already 
prepared. Much dissatisfaction was expressed ; but the 
emperor succeeded in pacifying both the Bomish and Pro- 
testant parties. With the view of further accommodating 
the feelings of the Protestants, perhaps, also, of taking credit 
to himself for the transfer of the council, and showing his 
persevering independence of the Roman see, Charles, at the 
end of the diet of Augsburg, February 13th, 1551, published 
a decree, which, while it practically confirmed the one set 
forth by the pope, still seemed to take too great a responsibility 
upon himself, and to derogate from the dignity and self- 
satisfaction of the pontiff. 2 In fact, "the world thought it, 
as it was, a just counterpoise of the pope's bull, in all parts. 
The one will direct councils, the other will take care that 
all be done in order, and juridically ; the one will preside, 
and the other will have the decision according to the Scrip- 
ture and the Fathers ; the one will continue it, and the 
other will have power given to every one to propose according 
to his conscience. In brief, the court could not digest this 
affront, and complained that it was another convocation 
of the council. But the pope, according to his usual pleasant- 



y Sarpi, p. 289. 



2 Sleidan, p. 512, gives it at length. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



211 



ness, said, 'The emperor liath been even with me, for the 
publication of the bull, made without him.' " a 

The good-natured complaisance or the policy of Julius 
swallowed this affront, and he began to choose fitting assistants 
in the undertaking which had devolved upon him. In a 
consistory held on March the 4th, 1551, he chose Cardinal 
Marcello Crescenzio sole legate, with two nuncios of equal 
authority, Sebastiano Pighini, archbishop of Manfredoni, 
and Luigi Sepponiani, bishop of Modena. b Massarelli was 
ordered to hasten to Trent, and, in the consistory held on 
the 24th of April, the bishops, eighty-four of whom were 
then at Pome, were commanded to join him at the same 
place. 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Disputes about Parma, 

I must now briefly allude to certain events, which, al- 
though they had not absolutely prevented the business of 
the council from proceeding, had nevertheless interfered with 
its prosperity, and eventually led to its suspension. Ottavio 
Farnese, by the influence of Julius, had recovered possession 
of Parma, and that without opposition from the emperor. 
But the latter had no thoughts of giving up Piacenza as 
well, and he still retained many places in the vicinity of 
Parma, which Gonzaga had seized. " There was no possi- 
bility of any real confidence between the two, after so many 
reciprocal offences. It is true, the death of Paul III. had 
deprived his grandsons of a great support, but it had also 
set their hands free. They had now no need to give any 
further consideration to the general interests, or to those of 
the Church, but could adopt measures with an exclusive 
view to their own. "We still find Ottavio possessed with 
feelings of bitter hatred. His enemies, he said, were en- 
deavouring to wrest Parma from him, and even to put him- 

a Sarpi, p. 291. 

b Pallav. xi. 13, 1. All three, however, went by the name of legates. 
— Mendham, p. 139. 

c As my account must necessarily be brief, I refer my reader to 
Pallav. xi. 10 and 12. My own sketch is chiefly abridged from Sleidan, 
Sarpi, and Ranke. 

p 2 



21* 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



self out of the way ; but they should succeed in neither the 
one nor the other." d 

Dreading the power of the emperor, and mistrustful of 
Jiis own capabilities of resistance, Ottavio sought the aid of 
the pontiff. The pope, in a characteristically careless man- 
ner, replied, " that he must do as well as he could for him- 
self. " e Light words are but too often the forerunners, if not 
the cause, of serious consequences. Ottavio Farnese sought 
.4iid in another quarter, and a garrison of French soldiers 
. shortly appeared within the city of Parma. 

The rage of the emperor knew no bounds, and the pontiff 
was willing to aid him in the means of venting it upon the 
offender. On the 8th of April, 1551, he issued a bull, in 
which, after setting forth the obligations he had conferred 
xipon Ottavio Farnese, and the promises made by him not to 
put a foreign garrison into Parma without the pope's 
consent, he commanded him, " within thirty days to make 
Jiis personal appearance at Pome, to answer the accusations 
made against him, and to give sufficient security for his good 
behaviour in time to come ; wherein if he should fail," he 
~was declared " now as then, and then as now, guilty of high 
treason, perjury, and other most heinous crimes and offen- 
ces," and was threatened " that all his lands, goods, and 
chattels, should be confiscated to the public." f How much 
effect this document produced, will be seen hereafter. Mean- 
while, we must return to the council. 

^t'^ix.£tr»'«id^t Hjnfjiatfoub feomjiio<| owi ed^fy^a/i modi, w&im 
CHAPTER XXIX. 

Eleventh Session. 

On the 29th of April, Crescenzio reached Trent, and was 
met, two miles from the city, by Cardinal Madrucci, and 
:about thirteen other archbishops and bishops, almost all of 
the Imperial party. Having put on their pontifical robes, 
they were met by Don Francisco Vargas, the fiscal of the 
emperor, who, having exhibited his credentials from Charles, 
delivered a polite speech respecting the favourable intentions 
of the emperor towards the council. They then entered the 

^ Ranke, p. 71. 

<f The authenticity of this reply is well defended by Courayer, p. 572. 
/ .Sieidan, p. 513. 



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21$ 



city two and two, on horseback; first, the legate and Ma£ 
drucci, then the two other assistant prelates, and then the 
rest. After various ceremonies and rejoicings, the customary- 
indulgence was published in the cathedral church, and the 
cortege withdrew to their own dwellings. On the same day- 
Francisco de Toledo arrived as ambassador from Charles. 
A dispute next arose about etiquette ; but it was at lengtlt 
resolved, that the two assistant prelates should be treated on 
a par with the first legate, and that Madrucci should give 
place to them, at the same time being honourably distill 
guished from the rest of the bishops.? 

The council had been resumed in haste, and its proceed- 
ings were proportionately unsatisfactory. A few meaningless 
ceremonies were a poor compensation for its scanty attend- 
ance and practical inactivity. On the last day of April a 
congregation was held, and it was proposed that the present 
synod should be opened the following day, as agreed upon, 
but that all business should be postponed till the 1st of Sep- 
tember. All approved of the commencement of the synod, 
and likewise of its prorogation, generally speaking ; h but many 
complained that too long a delay had been proposed, and 
wished, with Giovanni Fonseca, that the prorogation might 
be indefinite, with the view of its being soon anticipated. 

After some unimportant disputes on this subject, inas& 
was celebrated by the legate on the 1st of May, the sermon 
being preached by Era Sigismodo Fedrio, a Franciscan. Mas- 
sarelli then read the two pontifical documents respecting the 
resumption of the council at Trent, and the election of the 
presidents ; and the archbishop of Sassari proposed the decrees 
for the opening and prorogation of the council, which were- 
received with unanimous assent by the small audience 
assembled. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

The Twelfth Session. 

Fresh prelates arrived daily, but no congregations were 
held. Towards the end of August, the electors of Mentz 
and Treves also arrived, and preparations were made for the 

s Pallav. I. c. 14, 2 and 3. 

h In hope that the Germans might arrive, says Pallavicino. It will 
be seen that this was the real wish of but few members of the csunciL 



214 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



reception of the elector of Cologne, who was shortly expected. 
Two other ambassadors from the emperor, TTgo, Count de 
Montfort, and, soon after the twelfth session was over, Wil- 
liam of Poictiers, as representative of Flanders, also came, 
Don Francisco de Toledo acting as Spanish representative. 

The business of this session was as unimportant as that of 
the preceding one. On the 31st of August it was deter- 
mined that the session should be held the following day, but 
that the council should be again prorogued till the 11th of 
October, the synod " conceiving a hope that many other 
prelates, both of Germany itself, whose interests it princi- 
pally concerns, and of other nations, will, moved by the 
requirement of their office and by this example, arrive in a 
few days." 1 Fra Baldassar Eredia, archbishop of Cagliari, 
celebrated mass, but, in place of a sermon, an exhortation 
touching the fitting behaviour to be observed during the 
council, was read by Massarelli, in the name of the presi- 
dents. The archbishop of Cagliari then read the decree of 
prorogation, in which the treatment of the eucharist, and of 
the remaining hinderance to episcopal residence, were pro- 
posed to be treated of : it met with unanimous approvals 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Further Bad Feeling between the Pope and Henry II. 

I have already mentioned the coalition of Ottavio Far- 
nese and the king of France, and have hinted at the influ- 
ence that it was destined hereafter to have upon the working 
of the council. A few details of what had transpired up 
to the present moment must now receive our attention. 

So far from being terrified into submission by the pope's 
citation, Ottavio Farnese set it at open defiance, and, 
strengthened by the support of the French king, determined 
to hold out against the emperor. On the 13 th of May, the 
emperor uttered a proclamation to this effect : " Forasmuch 
as, in compliance with the duty and goodwill we bear to the 
pope and Church of Rome, we are desirous to perform those 
things we ought, and to take care, lest, upon this occasion, 
greater stirs arise in Italy, and afterwards in other places 



Decrees and Canons, p. 69. 



k Pallav. xi. 15. 



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215 



also : again, when we consider upon how just grounds the 
pope is offended, and how he hath omitted nothing that was 
fit to keep Ottavio in his duty, we have commissioned and 
appointed Ferrande Gonzaga in our name, to aid and assist 
his holiness, because we cannot do it in person. Wherefore 
we command all our subjects within the duchy of Milan, 
that, during the war, they pay him the same obedience as 
they would ourself in person, and endeavour to do the enemy 
all the hurt and damage that possibly they can do." 1 Gon- 
zaga began the war, and laid siege to Parma, while the 
pope attacked Mirandola, the prince of which state inclined 
to the French side. 

But the bearing of this political association was now fur- 
ther developed in a circumstance which took place on the 
day of the last-mentioned session. James Amyot, abbot of 
Bellozane, who had arrived in Trent two days previously, 
came to the presidents, after the ceremonies of the synod 
were over, and presented a letter from the king of France, 
addressed to themselves and all the other fathers assembled 
on account of the council. The legate Crescenzio, on reading- 
it to himself, remarked to his colleagues that it was evidently 
not the French kings intention to set the council at nought. 
But when it was read aloud by Massarelli, great dissatisfac- 
tion was expressed at its being addressed to the " Tridentine 
Convention." 111 Amyot asserted that the phrase was the 
sole act of the royal secretary, and that the words " conven- 
tion," " council," and " consession" (consessio), were indiffe- 
rently employed to denote the same thing. 

However true this explanation might be, it was not re- 
ceived without considerable deliberation ; and, if we consider 
the general state of affairs, it seems likely both that a covert 
affront was intended, and that the synod too well knew 
their own position to dare to resent it. It was at length 

1 Sleidan, p. 514. The 16th chapter of Pallavicino's 11th book is 
very important in reference to the present political juncture. 

m Pallav. ch. 17. Cf. Mendham, p. 142 ; also p. 142 of the following 
work, to which I here take the opportunity of referring those anxious 
for an older historical synopsis of the present history : ) ' Exanien Con- 
cilii Tridentini, in quo demonstratur, in niultis articulis hoc concilium 
antiquis conciliis et canon ibus, regiseque authoritati contrarium esse. 
Distinctum in V. libros, Regi Navarraeo dicatum, Innocentio Gen- 
tilletto, Jurisconsulto Delphinensi, Authore." Genevse, mdlxxxvi. 



216 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



resolved that the letters should be read. A polite, but 
utterly evasive, apology for the non-attendance of the French 
bishops, and some general and by no means remarkably 
distinct professions of regard for, and adherence to, the 
Church of Rome, formed the gist of the communication. xSTor 
was the secretary in possession of information thai could 
give him the slightest clue how to act, or even authority to 
proceed, all mention of bis name being omitted in the de- 
spatches. 

It is almost impossible not to see, that the making the 
war about Parma a pretext for the non-attendance of the 
prelates at Trent was adding insult to injury, and making 
one offence an excuse for the other.' In fact, the king of 
France was now taking up the weapons which his old and 
now declining rival, the emperor, had employed with such 
masterly skill against the papal see. He cared nothing 
about the pope or the council, but could not withstand the 
delight of offering a covert insult to the pride of the Roman 
pontiff. This was fully proved by the conduct of A royot, 
who, having been directed to appear at the ensuing session 
to receive an answer, did not do so, but, on the 3rd oi 
December, by the direction of the king, published a docu- 
ment at Fontainbleau to much the same effect as the one he 
had already delivered. 11 

But although Henry II. had quarrelled with the pope, he 
felt bound, for his own security, not to offer more aggression 
to the papal see than suited his interests; and, "fearing that, 
by his dissension with the pope, those who desired change of 
religion, would make some innovation, which might prove 
serious, or that he himself might come into the bad opinion 
of his people, as if his mind were averse from the Catholic faith, 
and perhaps to open a way for reconciliation with Rome," 
he imitated the conduct of his predecessor Philip, and pub- 
lished a severe edict against the Protestants, holding out 
greater temptations to those who should inform against them, 
and enforcing heavier penalties. 

11 A good summary of the protest is given in Sarpi, p. 301. 
° Sarpi, p. 303. CI Courayer, p. 592. 



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217 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Preparations for the Thirteenth Session. 

On the 2nd of September, 155>1, the day following the 
previous session, a general congregation was held, and the 
fathers proceeded to draw up the articles touching the 
eucharist, which were to be examined, as well as the passages 
found in the writings of the followers of Zwinglius and 
Luther. The following ten propositions were selected : — 

1. That in the eucharist the body, blood, and also the 
divinity of Christ, are not really and truly present, but only 
as in a sign, as wine is said to be in the sign of an inn. 

2. That Christ is not given to be eaten sacrament ally, but 
spiritually, and by faith. 

3. That in the eucharist there is the body and blood of 
Christ, but together with the substance of the bread and 
wine \ so that there is no transubstantiation, but an hyposta- 
tical union of the humanity of Christ and of the substances 
of the bread and wine ; so that it may be truly said, " this 
bread is my body, and this wine is my blood." 

4. That the eucharist was substituted only for the re- 
mission of sins. 

5. That Christ in the eucharist ought not to be adored, 
nor worshipped with festivals, nor carried in processions, nor 
brought to the sick, and that the worshippers thereof are 
truly idolaters. 

6. That the eucharist is not to be reserved in the sacrarium, 
but spent and distributed immediately among those present ; 
and that he who doth not so, doth abuse this sacrament ; and 
that it is not lawful for any one to communicate himself. 

7. That in the host, or consecrated particle which remains 
after the communion, the body of our Lord remaineth not, 
but only while it is received, and neither before nor after it 
is received. 

8. That it is of divine right for the eucharist to be 
administered under both kinds to the laity, and even to 
children, and that they siu, who compel them to receive it 
under one kind only. 

9. That as much is not contained under one as under both, 



218 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



neither doth he receive as much, who communicates under 
one kind, as he who doth so under both. 

10. That faith alone is a sufficient preparation for receiving 
the eucharist ; that confession is not necessary, but free, 
especially to the learned ; and that persons are not bound to 
communicate at Easter. 

It has well been observed by a writer of the present day, 
" that we should be inclined to infer from the language of 
some contemporaries, that the council might have proceeded 
farther with more advantage than danger to their Church by 
complying with the earnest and repeated solicitations of the 
t emperor, the duke of Bavaria, and even the court of France, 
that the sacramental cup should be restored to the laity, and 
that the clergy should not be restrained from marriage. 
Upon this, however, it is not now for us to dilate. The 
policy of such concessions, but especially of the latter, was 
always questionable, and has not been demonstrated by the 
event. In its determinations of doctrine, the council was 
generally cautious to avoid extremes, and left in many 
momentous questions of the controversy, such as the in- 
vocation of saints, no small latitude for private opinion. It 
has been thought by some, that they lost sight of this 
prudence in defining transubstantiation so rigidly as they did 
in 1551, and thus opposed an obstacle to the conversion of 
those who would have acquiesced in a more equivocal form of 
words. But in truth, no alternative was lefb upon this 
point. Transubstantiation had been asserted by a prior 
council, the fourth Lateran, in 1215, so positively, that to 
recede would have surrendered the main principle of the 
Catholic Church." P 

But although these observations are correct in one point 
of view, they scarcely hold good of the definitions given in 
the decrees of this session. While the fundamental error of 
Borne, transubstantiation, was asserted with sufficient force 
to exclude and anathematize all reformers, due allowance was 
made for what Borne herself did not understand, and the 
schoolmen were still left free to dispute upon the manner in 
which the real presence takes place. The framers of these 
decrees full well knew how much danger there was in seek- 

p Hallam, Lit. of Europe, v. ii. p. 98. 



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219 



ing to put an end to a war of words, especially when they 
felt incapable of explaining their own meaning without the 
certainty of giving offence. 

Without entering into minute details respecting the dis- 
putes and arguments which ensued, it will be well briefly to 
state the principal doubts excited respecting certain of these 
propositions. 9 

The first, third, fifth, sixth (with one exception), seventh, 
and eighth were condemned unanimously, and the second 
was omitted as being virtually contained in the first, and 
therefore equally to be rejected. 

The fourth, it was said, would be Catholic in doctrine, if 
the word solely or alone were omitted, but others wished it 
to be condemned ; retaining, in such condemnation, the word 
alone or principally. 

As to the sixth article, declaring it unlawful for any one 
to communicate himself, they condemned it, adding, however, 
the words, " under no circumstances, on no plea of necessity, 
not even for the priest administering it ; " for some one 
observed that theologians had maintained that it was not 
lawful for a layman to communicate himself under any cir- 
cumstance, and that, if pressed by urgent necessity, it were 
better for him to receive the sacrament in will only. 

The first part of the ninth, asserting that as much is not 
contained under the one species as under both, was una- 
nimously condemned ; but some held that the second part, 
denying that as much is received under one, as both, was not 
heretical ; inasmuch as it was to be understood of grace, 
which they held to be not equally received under one kind, 
as under both. Others wished that no mention should be 
made of grace, in order to avoid disputes. Two Franciscans 
absolutely attempted to show that priests had a greater right 
than the laity to the participation of the sacrament under 
both kinds, because entitled to a twofold share of grace by 
virtue of their office and dignity. 

The first and third parts of the tenth article were una- 
nimously condemned ; but some held that the obligation to 
communicate at Easter was of ecclesiastical, not a divine 

i Our authority is Pallavicino, xii. 2. Dr. Waterwortk has also 
drawn fronL the same source. 



220 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



authority, and the elector of Treves looked upon it as a 
schismatical, rather than an heretical objection. As to the 
second clause, denying the necessity (where there is a con- 
sciousness of deadly sin) of confession previous to the fitting 
reception of the eucharist, some held that contrition, with 
the. intention of confessing in due time, was sufficient. Others 
said that confession was absolutely necessary, and therefore 
condemned that clause as heretical. A third party thought 
it should be condemned as erroneous, causing scandal, leading 
to the evident destruction of souls, and opening a way to an 
unworthy manner of receiving the eucharist — a fact of which 
there were daily proofs.* 

A digest of these opinions was laid before the fathers oil 
the 17th of September; and on the 21st, in a general congre- 
gation, they began to give their decisions thereupon. The 
legate gave some advice, to the effect that they should leave 
scholastic questions open, and, as touching the tenth article, 
he recommended enforcing the necessity of confession. 

The result of all these discussions will best be seen by a 
reference to the canons s set forth by this session, which, with 
a few exceptions,* present the opinions laid down in the 
previous congregations. Several other questions relating to 
the eucharist were, for the present, postponed. 

The decrees touching reformation were neither numerous 
nor important, a fact to which we shall presently make 
further allusion. u 

On the 11th of October, 1551, the thirteenth session was 
opened with greater solemnity than any previous one. It 
occupied eight hours, and the oration preached on the holy 
eucharist by the archbishop of Sassari is mentioned in high 
terms of praise by Don Vargas. The decrees both on faith 
and discipline met with unanimous approval, and the session 
itself presented an obvious increase, there being present, 
besides the presidents, one cardinal, three archbishop-electors, 
six archbishops, forty-four bishops, three abbots, and the 
general of the Augustinian order. 

r Compare Sarpi, p. 304, sqq. Some useful remarks will also be 
found in Mendham's review of this session. s P. 77 of my edition. 

1 These will he found in Pallav. ch. 12, § 10, sqq. and very ably 
summed up by Waterworth, p. cxxxvi. sq. 

u See Vargas's letter, below, p. 221, sqq. 



COUNCIL OF TKEXT. 



221 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Remarks on the Previous Session. Epistles of Vargas. 

It is far from my wish to enter into the discussion of the 
sad consequences of this session to so large a portion of the 
Christian world ; far from me to canvass anew the long- 
exploded fallacies of those arguments which made truth hide 
her head, and gave force and authenticity to the monster- 
birth of transubstantiation. Too many able hands have 
asserted the cause of religion over superstition, and too 
many clear heads have pointed out the dangerous influences 
of this invention of Home, to require any additional proofs at 
my hands. That the council were now doing definite mischief, 
cannot be doubted ; let us now see in what manner they did 
their work. 

Bitterly has Calvin stigmatized this assembly as " a packed 
troop of papal hirelings, in which the pope alone was pre- 
eminent ;" x and, even setting aside the known learning and 
integrity of many of its members, especially of the Spanish 
party, we cannot but feel that, as a whole, it was little else 
than a court of Rome appointed to plead her own interests, 
and condemn all that opposed them. So far from being an 
independent council, the assembly was almost solely at the 
mercy of the legates, who, in turn, were equally dependent 
on the pope. 

It may be said that these are the assertions of a member 
of the reformed Church of England. They are so ; but the 
conviction with which they are uttered derives its strongest 
assurances from the language of a Roman Catholic, a man, 
however, of no ordinary clearness and liberality of thought. 
Let the following quotations from an epistle written during 
the congregations which preceded the session, bear out what 
I have stated. They are from a letter of Don Francisco 
Vargas to the bishop of Arras. 

" Your lordship may be satisfied of what I know to be 
true, and have writ formerly, which is, that there is nothing 
in the world the pope and his ministers abhor and dread so 

K ?' Tametsi enim concilium quod daret, sciebat nihil fore aliud quam 
conductitiam turbam suorum asseclarum, in qua ipse solus emineret." — 
Calvini Antidoton Cone. Trid. p. 32, ed. 1548. 



222 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



much, as the coming of the Protestants to the council ; for 
we can plainly perceive that they are not themselves, nor in 
a condition to treat about any business, -when they are 
brought to touch on that point. This is the true reason of 
their making so much haste, and of their having been so un- 
willing to grant what is above mentioned ;y being in a con- 
tinual dread lest something should rise from under their feet 
to disturb them, and of people coming hither, who may, to 
their great mortification, deliver their minds freely against 
abuses, and some other things. 

" So that in truth it is their whole business to abuse the 
world by pretending that they do hope and wish that the 
Protestants would come, when at the same time they are 
contriving all the ways they can think of to shut the door 
against them. This, so far as I can understand, was the 
reason of their precipitating the doctrine of justification, as 
they did : and whereas they cannot tell but that the Protes- 
tants may come hither, so, were they but certain that they 
would never come, I cannot tell what they might do. z 

" As to your lordship wondering at the electors not having 
observed this, and at their having suffered tilings to go so 
far j to speak the truth, it is what I have likewise wondered 
at, and the more, since I was told, that the ambassadors of 
the king of the Romans had voted the communicating under 
both species to be of divine right, and that the cardinal of 
Trent gave a great many reasons why the Protestants ought 
to be dispensed with therein. As to the elector of Mentz, 
to whom he of Triers is entirely resigned, he was of another 
mind, having declared that it would be of no advantage to 

y /. e. "that the article sub utraque, with all its dependencies, should be 
suspended until the second session after this that is now to be celebrated ; 
the first being to be held after forty days, and the second on the 25th 
of January (1552)" (p. 1). Vargas further observes that, at this request, 
made with a view to considering the Protestants, " the legate was like 
a distracted man, and being transported beyond all the bounds of nego- 
tiating, among other things he threatened to be gone immediately, not 
being able to endure to see the council thus affronted, by having matters, 
after they were handled and ready to be determined, suspended thus." 

z Mendham, p. 145, observes: " The fiscal (i. e. Don Francisco Vargas) 
was no friend to the Protestants, but he understood what was fair play.'* 
Geddes, Introd. p. 68, seems to have a higher opinion of the Protestant 
tendencies of Vargas. 



COUNCIL OF TEENT. 



223 



grant that to them ; for which he is highly extolled by the 
pope's ministers and others, as he of Trent is strangely run 
down for what he said, by several reports they have spread 
abroad of him. 

" For among the other non-liberties of this council, this is 
one j that whoever offers anything that is not grateful to the 
legate, or that does not suit exactly with some people's pro- 
positions, he is reported to have spoken ill, and to think 
worse, and to have taken what he said out of I do not know 
whom. And thus most things are handled here with great 
prejudices. Mentz follows the legate in everything almost, 
which is much for his honour; and for Triers, he votes always 
as Mentz does. 

'IOok~ c <ji 7 jru/fe * *■ * , * a* 

" Should the Protestants come hither, they will expect, I 
suppose, to be heard as to the matters which are already 
determined, no less than to those that are not, as indeed it is 
but reasonable they should ; and the rather, that we may 
thereby encourage them to come. Now as they will choose 
some to speak in their name, so it will be convenient, in my 
mind, that the Catholics should appoint some to answer them ; 
and that they may satisfy them without wrangling, let them 
have their several days allotted, but so that the Protestants 
may still continue plaintiffs. 

" I take notice of this, because there are some here, who 
are obstinately of opinion, that none but ;he Protestants are 
to be suffered to speak to matters which are already decided, 
and that they are only to be heard. Now if this course is 
taken, as it will give but little satisfaction, so it will not be 
much for the honour of the synod; for there is the same 
reason for answering them, as there is for hearing them ; and 
does not their saying that the Protestants shall be heard in 
matters which are already determined, only in order to their 
being instructed, and their disputing here about things as if 
the Protestants were present, demonstrate that this course 
ought to be taken ? For since most of the things have been 
determined by former councils, were it not on such an 
occasion as this, it would not be lawful for Catholics to 
dispute about them ; so that if this course is not taken, the 
Protestants will come hither to little purpose ; neither can 



224 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



they properly be said to come to a council, but to be brought 
before a court." a 

We shall soon have occasion again to refer to these im- 
portant documents, but must meanwhile proceed with the 
direct history. 

CHAPTEE XXXIY. 

Concluding Measures of the Thirteenth Session. 

We have already stated that certain articles connected 
with the eucharist had been postponed, 13 ostensibly with the 
view of giving the Protestants an opportunity of arriving in 
time to be present at their discussion. A safe-conduct was 
at the same time made out. c 

Before the council broke up, it was deemed expedient to 
read the reply prepared to the protest made by Amyot on 
behalf of the French king, to the following effect : " That 
the synod during the last session had experienced great joy 
both from the increased number of bishops and princes who 
had arrived ; from the complimentary messages of the em- 
peror and Ferdinand, in the name of their respective king- 
dom, Bohemia and Hungary : and because similar messages 
were in preparation from Portugal and Poland." After 
complimenting Henry II. on his zeal in the cause of the 
Catholic religion, they set forth their regret and anxiety at 
the tenor of the king's letters, not charging them with 
evincing irreverence towards the council, but lamenting that 
a difficulty should have arisen in a quarter to which they 
had reason to look for support. As to the affairs of Parma, 
they doubted not that the pontiff would be able and willing 
to give an account of his own conduct ; but they observed, 
that the council had nothing to do wioh affairs of war, and 
that the passage to the council, and the liberty of speaking 

a ' Letters of Vargas, published by Geddes, at the end of his tract 
entitled "The Council of Trent plainly discovered not to have been a 
'Free Assembly," date Oct. 7th, 1551, to the bishop of Arras. The 
authenticity of these letters is satisfactorily proved in Mendham, p. 144. 
" Alvare-Gomez dit, dans la vie du Cardinal Ximenes, que Vargas etait 
un homme d'une grande integrite, d'une Erudition extraordinaire, et d'une 
experience consommee." — Biograph. XJniverselle, t. 47, p. 503. See 
Vargas's directions concerning the government of a council, and the 
office of an ambassador, in Geddes, p. 127. 

b Decrees and Canons, p. 84. c Ibid. p. 85. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



225 



freely therein, were as much open to the French bishops as 
to any others. In conclusion, they exhorted him to con- 
tinue steadfast in his adherence to the Catholic religion, and 
admonished the French bishops to obey the summons of the 
pontiff, and hasten to the synod at once. d 

Amyot, as has been observed, had absented himself, and 
this reply was framed upon the same principle as the docu- 
ment against which it was directed. Henry had not medi- 
tated to send a message to the council, so much as to publish 
an apologetic declaration to the world at large. In like 
manner, the council framed their reply for the hearing of 
all, endeavouring therein to unite the contrary language of 
respect and freedom, kindness and reproof. 40 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

The Safe-Conduct. 

Little satisfaction was expressed by the Protestants at the 
proceedings of the last session, and the terms of the safe- 
conduct were anything but satisfactory. When it was said 
that " the sacred and holy general Synod of Trent granted, as 
far as regards the holy synod itself," e the safe-conduct in 
question, they " doubted not but that the aim of the synod 
was to leave a gate open for the pope, that he might with 
his own and the council's honour, do what he thought 
serviceable for them both. Besides, the treating to depute 
judges for things heretical committed, or to be committed, 
seemed to them a kind of net, to catch those that were 
unwary \ and even the very pedants did laugh at it, that 
the principal verb was more than a hundred and fifty words 
from the beginning. The Protestants did uniformly agree 
not to be content with it, or trust to it, but to desire 
another, like that which was given by the Council of Basle 
to the Bohemians \ which, if it were granted, they did obtain 
one great point, that is, that the controversies should be 

d Pallav. xii. 9. 

e "The sentence quantum ad ipsam sanctam synodum spectat, I have 
translated and placed so as to make its meaning as ambiguous as the 
original. The closing sentence, too, would admit an interpretation, 
when, if necessary, reduced to practice, not very favourable to the 
heretic. " — Mendham. 

Q 



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decided by the holy Scriptures; and if it were not granted, 
they might excuse themselves with the emperor." f 

The attacks made by Pallavicino upon this passage of 
Sarpi are more distinguished for quibbling than veracity. 
And here again we are fortunate in possessing the words of 
a contemporary witness, who, whilst asserting the credibility 
of the Venetian historian beyond the reach of doubt, gives 
us the liveliest picture of the struggle which, even among 
K-oman Catholics, existed between the bigoted and selfish 
dependants of the Roman court, and the enlightened and 
liberal men of business, who were capable of contemplating 
affairs in more than one light. 

The following is an extract from a letter of Don Francisco 
Vargas to the bishop of Arras, dated November 28th, 1551.S 

" The safe-conduct having been thus ordered, was sent by 
Don Francisco to the legate ; who, as your lordship will see, 
has changed the whole form thereof, having reduced it to a 
very small compass ; which cannot but give great offence to 
the Protestants, who therein have no promise made them, 
not to be punished for the offences of their religion, which 
for the removal of scruples ought to have been done ; and 
the rather, because they are not allowed the exercise of their 
worship ; it seems likewise to give the judges, that are 
appointed over them, a power to take cognizance of all 
crimes they have committed or shall commit, even savouring 
of heresy : neither is it said that the judges shall be ap- 
pointed from among themselves, but only in general, quod 
possint deligere judices sihi benevolos; which may very well 
raise such scruples in them, as may hinder them from ever 
coming hither; since they will never consent that they 
shall be liable to punishments by any judges purely on 
account of their religion ; neither will they fail to say, that 
this was done with a design. 

" The clause likewise, quantum ad ipsam sanctam synodum 
spectat, may very well make them jealous ; since the synod 
ought to promise for the pope, the emperor, and all other 
princes and prelates', that they shall enjoy an entire security, 
as was done by the synod of Basle, and especially since they 

f Sarpi, p. 324. 

£ These letters have not escaped the notice of the acute and diligent 
Courayer, v. i. p. 633, note. 



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have promised his majesty so to do : they ought likewise to 
suspend the decrees of the Council of Constance, made in its 
9th session ; and that of Sienna, as was done in the safe- 
conduct granted to the Bohemians ; that being a thing the 
Protestants have much in their thoughts, and who, by their 
insisting thereon, have much retarded his majesty : and the 
truth is, the synod in a case of this importance ought not to 
grudge them words; but it ought, without descending to nice- 
ties, or to what is enough, or not enough, to grant them an 
entire security : all which things ought, in my judgment, to 
be remedied; and so they shall, if the legate will, as he ought 
to do, let me see the safe-conduct before it is pronounced. 
But, as I have formerly written to your lordship, considering 
that he grants this with a very ill will, I do not at all 
wonder at his acting therein as he does, and at his contriving 
a thousand ways to hinder those people ever coming to the 
council. 

" As to the prelates, there is no need of taking any notice 
of them, they being no ways concerned in that matter, the 
legate having never so much as acquainted them with it, all 
things appearing well to them at first sight, and who, know- 
ing nothing of matters until they are just ready to be pro- 
nounced, pass them without any more ado. 

~x * * * * * * 

" The second thing wherewith I am displeased, is in the 
answer that was given to the protestation beginning at Quod 
vero testatus ; in which the pope, for his own ends, has made 
the council a party in the authorizing of his affairs, and in 
defending of his pretensions against all the pragmatics, 
which have been, or may be made in France concerning 
benefices, and other such matters. This the council ought 

by no means to have been brought to have done it 

being neither convenient nor just that the synod, which 
knows nothing of these affairs, having never examined them 
nor brought them into judgment, should, hand-over-head, 
pronounce anything about them." 

After this candid exposure of the miserable truckling 
and trifling with which this free assembly was amused, 
we are scarcely surprised to meet with the following ob- 
servations as to the character of the work they were 
employed in. 

Q2 



228 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" As to the canons of reformation, I have nothing to say 
of them, but only that they are of so trivial a nature, that 
several were ashamed to hear them ; and had they not been 
wrapped up in good language, they would have appeared to 
the whole world to be what they are ; and if God does not 
prevent it, I do not see but that all things will be carried 
here at the same rate." h 

The conclusion of the letter is almost ominous. 

" I am extremely glad to hear that his majesty is coming 
nigher to us ; for, besides that it will be no small satisfaction 
to me to have your lordship so near, his majesty's presence 
,may give some life to affairs here." 1 

The best evidence of the truth of Sarpi's strictures on the 
safe-conduct, is, that the legate, despite his obstinate preju- 
dice against the Protestant party, was compelled eventually 
to augment and remodel the decree ; fully proving that the 
objections which Yargas had foreseen, had had their due 
weight. 

CHAPTER XXXYI. 

Congregations respecting the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction. 
Condemned Articles. 

On the 12th of October, a general congregation was held, 
in which the following heretical articles, touching the sacra- 
ments of penance and extreme unction, were proposed to the 
fathers for deliberation. 

1. That penance is not properly a sacrament, instituted 
by Christ for a reconciliation unto those who have fallen 
away after baptism ; neither is it rightly called by the 
fathers " a second plank after shipwreck :" but that bap- 
tism is in truth itself the sacrament of penance. 

2. That the parts of penance are not three in number, — 
contrition, confession, and satisfaction ; but two only, to wit, 
the terrors with which the conscience is stricken when sin 
is recognised ; and faith conceived by the Gospel, or by abso- 

h Vargas, second epistle to the bishop of Arras. In a letter of the 
28th of November, he again expresses his dissatisfaction " that a great 
many things of a very high nature are handled here so slightly, and after 
such a manner as gives great discontent." He cannot see how Catholics 
or heretics can be satisfied. — P. 22, sq. 

1 The emperor shortly appeared at Inspruck. — Sarpi, p. 334. 



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lution, whereby any one believeth that his sins are remitted 
him through Christ. 

3. That contrition, which is obtained by the consideration, 
collecting together, and detestation of one's sins, does not 
prepare men for the grace of God, nor remit sins ; but that 
it rather doth render a man a hypocrite and a greater sin- 
ner • and that such contrition is a forced, and not a free 
sorrow. 

4. That secret sacramental confession is not of divine 
right ; and that there is no mention made thereof in the 
ancient fathers before the Council of Lateran, but only of 
public penance. 

5. That the enumeration of sins in confession is not neces- 
sary for their remission, but is a matter of choice ; that in 
this age it is only useful for the instruction and consolation 
of the penitent ; that anciently it was only imposed as a 
canonical satisfaction ; that it is not necessary to confess all 
deadly sins, such, for instance, as secret ones, and such as are 
directed against the two last precepts of the Decalogue ; that 
neither need all the circumstances of sin, which idle men have 
devised, be specified ; and that to wish that all should be 
confessed, is to leave nothing to the divine mercy : and as to 
venial sins, that it is not even lawful to confess them. 

6. That the confession of all sins, required by the Church, 
is an impossibility, and a mere human tradition to be 
abolished by the pious ; and that confession need not bo 
made in time of Lent. 

7. That the absolution pronounced by the priest is not a 
judicial act, but the simple office of pronouncing and de- 
claring that sins are remitted unto him that doth confess, 
provided only he believe that he is absolved ; and this, even 
though he be not contrite, or the priest absolve not in 
earnest, but in joke ; nay, that the priest may even absolve 
the sinner without confession. 

8. That the priests have not the power of binding and 
loosing, except they be endued with the grace and charity 
of the Holy Ghost. And that they are not the only minis- 
ters of absolution ; but that to all and every Christian it is 
said, " whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall be bound in 
heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be 
loosed in heaven;" by virtue of which words, [all] can ab- 



230 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



solve from sins ; from public ones by correction, if the per- 
son corrected shall assent thereunto ; from secret ones, by 
absolution. 

9. That the minister of absolution, even if he absolve con- 
trary to the prohibition of his superior, doth nevertheless 
really absolve from sin, and that in the sight of God ; so 
that the reservation of cases does not hinder absolution ; 
nor have bishops the right to reserve such cases to them- 
selves, except as far as outward government is concerned. 

10. That the whole pain (or penalty) and guilt are simul- 
taneously remitted by God ; and that the satisfaction per- 
formed by penitents is no other than the faith whereby they 
apprehend that Christ hath made satisfaction for them ; and 
that, therefore, the canonical satisfactions were instituted by 
the fathers, and begun at the Council of Nice, for the sake 
of example, or discipline, or to make trial of the faithful, but 
not for the remission of punishment. 

11. That the best penance is a new life ; and thafc, by the 
temporal pains inflicted on us by God, we by no means make 
satisfaction ; as neither do we by such as are voluntarily 
undertaken by us ; such as are fastings, prayers, almsgivings, 
and other good works not enjoined by God, which are called 
works of supererogation. 

12. That satisfactions are not a worship offered to God, 
but traditions of man ; which observe the doctrine of grace 
and the true worship of God, and the very benefit itself of 
Christ's death ; that it is a mere idle tale, that, by the 
power of the keys, eternal punishments are commuted to 
temporal penalties, since the office [of the keys] is not to 
impose punishments, but to absolve from them. 

The four following articles are respecting the sacrament 
of extreme unction : — 

1. That extreme unction is not a sacrament of the new 
law instituted by Christ, but only a rite received from the 
fathers, or a mere human invention. 

2. That extreme unction neither confers grace nor the 
remission of sins ; neither does it relieve the infirm, who 
were cured of old by the gift of healing ; and that, therefore, 
it ceased with the primitive Church, as did the gift of 
healing. 

3. That the rite and usage of extreme unction are not 



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231 



observed by the Church of Home according to the intention 
of the blessed apostle St. James ; and that they may there- 
fore be changed, and despised by Christians, without sin. 

4. That a priest is not the only minister of extreme 
unction ; and that the " elders" whom the blessed apostle 
St. James exhorted us to bring to anoint the sick, are not 
priests ordained by a bishop, but elders by age in any com- 
munityJ 

Pallavicino takes notice of a few points in the chapters 
and canons on the subject of penance, which derive some 
illustration from the debates in the congregations, and seem 
to deserve a place here. k 

Diego Lainez, condemning the latter portion of the second 
article, asserted that to the sacrament penitence, fear, love, 
contrition, and absolution, were necessary. Love was also 
enumerated as necessary by Jacopo Ferrusio, bishop of 
Segova, who alleged the insufficiency of terror, quoting the 
saying, " her sins are forgiven her, because she loved much." 

Melchior Alvarez de Vosmediano, bishop of Guadix, said 
that we first grieve through fear of punishment, and after- 
wards on account of God, and that we then confess our sins. 
Bernardo Colloredo, a Dominican, held that fear, a detestation 
of former sins, and faith, whence hope, and then love arise, 
are necessary. In fact, according to Pallavicino's opinion, 
the acts of the council show an evident determination to 
condemn the error of heretics in disapproving of the fear of 
punishment, as being an unworthy motive, but not to pro- 
nounce sentence upon minute scholastic distinctions. 

But the most important point we have to notice, is the 
subject of attrition, or that imperfect kind of contrition, 
which, accompanied by the act of penance, was supposed to 
be sufficient for salvation. The part of the fourth chapter 1 
to which we refer, originally stood as follows : " With regard 



i My authority is Pallav. xii. 10. Cf. Decrees and Cj. ffave ^sqq. 

These propositions are differently divided in & w *** ie 

• X i .I.-U • -u- -u x , not tne whole essencf 

spirited remarks on the manner m which texifly w ^ i e f orce r jY ' 

tured to make them suit the meanings attach the matter as a part "A 
will be found in the same author, p. 325. reason " ' 

k I have not room for the more copious remarks ot'barpi, p. 328, sqq. 
all of which are impugned by Pallavicino. 

1 P. 90 of my edition. 



232 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



to that contrition which theologians call attrition, because it 
is imperfect, and conceived solely from the turpitude of sin, 
or from the fear of hell or punishment, which fear is called 
servile, the council ordains and declares, that if it exclude the 
disposition to sin, and express some sort of sorrow for sins 
committed, it not only does not render a man a hypocrite 
(as some do not hesitate to blasphemously assert), but is 
sufficient to constitute this sacrament, and is a gift of God, 
and a most genuine impulse of the Holy Ghost, not indeed 
as already dwelling in, but moving : with which the peni- 
tent being assisted, seeing that this can scarcely be without 
some motion of love towards God, he maketh his way unto 
Tighteousness, and thereby disposes himself to obtain the 
grace of God more easily." The bishop of Tuy observed, 
that it was incorrect to say that this kind of sorrow could 
not exist without love ; and that as to attrition being suffi- 
cient to constitute the sacrament, in so much that the sins 
of a man feeling attrition are blotted out by virtue of the 
absolution pronounced, the opinions of authors were various, 
and that the clause in question had better be removed. The 
desired alteration was made. 

The doctrine of attrition is too important to be passed 
over without some further notice. Surely the attempt to 
say how little a man may do to earn his salvation, is to leave 
to man's worst and most self-deceiving impulses a matter far 
too important to be thus loosely treated. We cannot but 
feel the force of the following remarks on this doctrine, as 
settled by the Council of Trent. " We think it strikes at 
the root of all religion and virtue, and is a reversing of the 
design for which sacraments were instituted, which was, to- 
raise our minds to a high pitch of piety, and to exalt and 
purify our acts. We think the sacraments are profaned 
when we do not raise our thoughts as high as we can in 
them ; to teach men how low they may go, and how small 
a measure will serve their turn, especially when the great and 
ehv W or a mfc - the consideration of the love of God, is 
2. That extreme \ Q one f g rea t e st corruptions in 
mission of sins ; m_ ch^ch can b e guilty : its slackness in 
doo?xS ir / e ^ °f °^^iti so great a point as this, in which 
human nature is under so fatal a bias, will always bring 
wdth it a much greater corruption in practice. This will 



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233 



indeed make many run to the sacrament, and raise its value ; 
but it will rise upon the ruins of true piety and holiness." 111 
The following passages from a writer, 11 who has minutely 

m Burnet on the Articles, p. 280. Cf. Hooker, p. 379 (folio ed.) : — 
" When once private and secret confession had taken place with the 
Latins, it continued as a profitable ordinance, till the Lateran Council 
had decreed that all men, once in a year at the least, should confess 1 
themselves to the priest. 

" So that, being a thing thus made both general and also necessary, 
the next degree of estimation whereunto it grew, was to be honoured 
and lifted up to the nature of a sacrament ; that as Christ did institute 
baptism to give life, and the eucharist to nourish life, so penitence might 
be thought a sacrament ordained to recover life, and confession a part of 
the sacrament. 

"They define, therefore, their private penitency to be, a sacrament of 
remitting sins after baptism ; the virtue of repentance, a detestation of 
wickedness with full purpose to amend the same, and with hope to obtain 
pardon at God's hands. 

" Wheresoever the prophets cry repent, and in the gospel Saint Peter 
maketh the same exhortation to the Jews as yet unbaptized, they would 
have the virtue of repentance only to be understood ; the sacrament, 
where he adviseth Simon Magus to repent, because the sin of Simon 
Magus was after baptism. 

" JSTow although they have only external repentance for a sacrament, 
internal for a virtue, yet make they sacramental repentance nevertheless 
to be composed of three parts — contrition, confession, and satisfaction — 
which is absurd ; because contrition being an inward thing, belonging to 
the virtue, and not to the sacrament of repentance, which must consist 
of external parts if the nature thereof be external. Besides, which is 
more absurd, they leave out absolution ; whereas some of their school 
divines, handling penance in the nature of sacrament, and being not able 
to espy the least resemblance of a sacrament save only in absolution (for 
a sacrament by their doctrine must both signify and also confer or bestow 
some special divine grace), resolved themselves, that the duties of the 
penitent could be but mere preparations to the sacrament, and that the 
sacrament itself consisted wholly in absolution. And, albeit Thomas 
with his followers have thought it safer to maintain as well the services 
of the penitent, as the words of the minister, necessary unto the essence 
of their sacrament ; the services of the penitent as a cause material ; the-, 
words of absolution as a formal ; for that by them all things else are. 
perfected to the taking away of sin ; which opinion now reigneth in all 
their schools, since the time that the Council of Trent gave its solemn 
approbation, seeing they all make absolution, if not the whole essence, 
yet the very form whereunto they ascribe chiefly the whole force and. 
operation of their sacrament ; surely to admit the matter as a part, and 
not to admit the form, hath small congruity with reason." 

u Allix, Discourse concerning Penance, pp. 8, 11, and 17, ed. 4 to. 
This subject is somewhat sharply handled by Mendham, p. 156. Com- 
. pare, also, Bishop Marsh, Comparative Vieiv, ch. ix. p. 216, sqq. 



234 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



examined the writings of schoolmen upon the subject, are 
most important as a commentary upon the canons of this 
session, and as showing both the real belief of Rome on the 
subject of penance, and the modifications and alterations that 
belief had undergone : — 

" Contrition, according to the sentiment of the Church of 
Home, imports a sorrow for our having offended God, not only 
because he can damn sinners, but also because he is infinitely 
worthy of our obedience and love. Contrition, therefore, 
supposeth not only the fear of hell, but also the love of God, 
which retakes its place in the sinner's soul, and which leads 
him again to the obedience of so good a God, whom he hath 
been so unhappy as to offend. Attrition, on the contrary, 
according to their opinion, doth not import anything of the 
love of God in the prime, but only a fear of hell, which 
makes him condemn his sin ; it is the fruit only of a slavish 
fear, arising from the prospect of the punishments designed 
for sinners. This being so, I desire the reader to judge, 
whether the Church of Rome have not taken away the 
essential parts of repentance, in receiving for one of her 
maxims, that attrition in conjunction with the sacrament is 
sufficient to reinstate man in the grace and favour of God. 
And what though she exhorts sinners to contrition, is it 
not evident that the greatest part of sinners, finding great 
trouble in doing that which they declare sufficient, will find 
much more difficulty to do what their confessors judge not to 
be necessary, though without doubt it be the better and 
surer way ? 

" Since the Council of Trent, we find few divines that 
defend the ancient opinion of the necessity of contrition, the 
contrary opinion having gained so much ground as well 
speculatively as practically, that nothing is more believed and 
taught. Benedicti, in his Summa de Peccat. lib. o, c. 1, 
p. 842, makes the difference between repentance considered 
as a virtue and as a sacrament to be this : that all those of 
old, that died before the ascension of Christ, without perfect 
contrition, are lost ; the case not being so with us, who may 
be saved by attrition alone, by means of the sacrament of 
penance, which confers grace and remission of sins, ex opere 
operato, which the virtue of penance cannot do." 

" The whole Church during the first twelve centuries, con- 



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235 



stantly believed these two things : — 1. That contrition and 
charity were absolutely necessary in order to reconciliation 
with God. 2. That the absolution of the sinner was granted 
to him at the moment of his contrition ; the absolution he 
received of the priest not effecting pardon of sin, but only 
procuring an entrance into the Church, from whence he was 
banished for the offence he had given." 

On the subject of extreme unction, little discussion ensued, 
and the doctrine thereupon, comprised in three chapters and 
four canons, presents little room for comment. But Bishop 
Marsh well observes, that " something like the doctrines to 
be proved, or some supposed obscure intimation of it, is sought 
in the words of Scripture. And then, through the light of 
tradition, this obscure intimation becomes at once a clear and 
comprehensive account of the doctrine to be proved. Thus, 
in favour of extreme unction appeal is made to the fifth 
chapter of the epistle of St. James, where something being 
said about anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, the 
decree says, of the words used by St. J ames, ' quibus verbis 
(ut ex apostolica traditione per manus accepta, ecclesia didicit), 
docet, materiam, formam proprium ministrum et effectum 
hujus salutaris sacramenti.' Hence, the oil is explained, as 
oil blessed by a bishop ; the form to be used is explained to 
be ' per istam unctionem,' etc. Now of this commentary thus 
imposed by tradition, there is not a trace in the text : and 
we here see in what manner the text of Scripture is put to 
the torture, and made to speak whatever it may appear good 
that tradition should make it speak." 

CHAPTER XXXYII. 

Decrees on Reformation. Letters of Vargas. The Fourteenth Session 

held. 

The thirteen chapters, containing the decrees on reforma- 
tion^ furnish many useful and salutary precepts regarding the 
correction of misdemeanors on the part of the clergy, and 
the restriction of ecclesiastics to their own districts. Many 
previous decrees, which were open to the ingenious cavils of 
those, who had an interest in mistaking their meaning, are 



Marsh, Comparative View of the Churches of England and Kome, 
ch. ii. p. 33, sq. p P. 104, sqq. 



236 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



cleared up and confirmed. Nevertheless, taken as a whole, 
they were of too feeble a nature to suit the exigencies of the 
times, or to have any weight towards satisfying the just 
discontent which the court of Rome had excited. The con- 
duct of Crescenzio had abated nothing of its haughtiness 
and violence ; and the inefficiency of the reformation measures 
passed at this session will be well understood, if we consider 
the following passages from the Epistles of Vargas, written 
just previous to the day of meeting. 

" I am not at all satisfied with what has been done in re- 
ference to a reformation, neither do I hope to see much more 
done therein ; for I can plainly perceive that the legate has 
the very same aims and resolutions that the present pope 
had, who, both when he was legate here, and since he was 
pope, presuming on his majesty's friendship, has done things 
without fear, that were really astonishing, never doubting of 
his being able to carry what he has a mind to do. I do 
observe that the present prelate discovers this infinitely more 
than the former ever did ; he having given us to understand, 
that the reformation is not a thing to be dwelt on ; and 
that all that is to be done therein, will be concluded in this 
session, the remaining time being to be wholly employed 

about doctrines." 

* * * * * * 

" I am fearful lest the legate should, under a pretence of 
friendship, impose on Don Francisco, the legate being im- 
moveably determined as to everything that he will do ; 
neither are his intentions in this affair the same with his. 
professions ; all that he driveth at in this matter, being only 
to have wherewith to stop the mouths of the prelates, to 
keep them from speaking about other things ; the bringing 
of the prelates to speak to the impediments of episcopal 
residence, having been this artifice from the beginning." 4 

" Notwithstanding we have but three days 1 to the session, 
a reform is no more talked of here than if it were a thing 
never to be mentioned again. And as for the legate, he goes 
on still in his old road, consuming time to the last hour 
in disputations and congregations concerning doctrines, and 

* Oct. 28th, 1551. 

r This letter is dated Nov. 12th, in Geddes's edition. There seems to 
be some mistake, as the session was held on the 25th. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



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will at last produce something in a huny, in false colours, 
that looks plausible; by which means they have no time to 
read, and much less to understand what they are about : so 
that it is not to be expected that anything that is done here 
should produce ought but scorn and confusion. 

" Words and persuasion do signify but little in this place, 
and I suppose they are not of much greater force at Rome, 
those people having shut their eyes, with a resolution, not- 
withstanding all things should go to rack, not to understand 
anything that does not suit with their interests." 

Soon after, we have an attack upon the Protestants, which, 
while it proves Vargas's attachment to Catholicism, makes 
his evidence against the council of tenfold value : — 

" As to the Protestants coming hither, I do not know what 
to say to it ; only, if other methods are not taken here, their 
coming will be to no purpose, and they will return worse than 
they came ; and especially if they should be such persons as 
your lordship is informed they are. God may, nevertheless, 
notwithstanding all their rebellions and determinations, bring 
them hither, to enlighten both themselves and others as to 
their duties ; for which reason, as there are several that do 
wish they were here, so there are others who cannot endure 
to hear of their coming, and much less to see it. 

" The two Protestants that are here already, do pretend 
to have no other cause but to provide lodgings for the rest, 

though I rather think they are sent before as spies 

It is reported that Melancthon and the rest of them appeared 
obstinate and resolute in their errors at the Assembly of 
Wittemberg ; if that is true, there is but little hope of re- 
ducing them ; neither will I ever believe they will come, 
before I see them here." 

Again, in a letter of the 26th of November : s — 

" Your lordship may be satisfied that there are not words 
to express the pride, disrespect, and shamelessness, wherewith 
he proceeds in this affair ; for being persuaded that we act 
timorously, and that his majesty will be cautious how he 
does anything that may minister occasion to any alteration, 
or that may disgust the pope, he says and does things that 
astonish the world, treating the prelates that are here as so 



3 P. 39, sqq. 



238 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



many slaves, protesting and swearing when he is displeased, 
that he will be gone immediately ; by which means he carries 
whatever he has a mind to." 

On the 25th of November, 1551, being the festival of 
St. Catherine, the fourteenth session was held. Maurique, 
bishop of Orenze, celebrated mass, and the bishop of San 
Marco preached the sermon. The decrees, which had been 
prepared in the previous congregations, seem to have passed 
without opposition. The next session was appointed to be 
held on the 25th of January, 1552, the subjects being the 
sacrifice of the mass and the sacrament of holy orders. 

CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 

Arrival of the Ambassadors from Wittenberg. 

While these matters were in progress, John Theodore 
Plenninger and John Ecklin, ambassadors sent by the duke 
of Wittemberg, arrived at Trent, bringing a confession of 
their doctrines, and declaring that some theologians should 
be sent to explain it at large, if security and a safe-conduct 
were insured them, according to the form of the Council of 
Basle. On the errand being communicated to the legate by 
the count de Montfort, he said that it was their duty to 
communicate first with the president of the council. But 
the ambassadors replied, "that it was one of the points 
required in Germany, that the pope should not preside ; 
which not being willing to contradict without an order from 
the prince, they would write, and expect an answer."* 

In this dilemma, the legate immediately sent to Borne for 
instructions. 11 

At the beginning of November, the emperor, who had 
evidently been expected, appeared at Inspruck, a place dis- 
tant only three days' journey from Trent. The pope felt 
somewhat uneasy, especially as the previous character of the 
emperor rendered his fidelity to his promises doubtful. 
But he took courage, " considering, that, if there were 
war in Germany, no account would be held of the council, 

* Sarpi, p. 334, Brent. Cf. Sleidan, p. 528. 

u It is scarcely necessary to observe that these must be the two Pro* 
testants referred to in the letter of Vargas just quoted. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



239 



and during peace all the German ecclesiastics would be on 
his side, as also the Italian prelates — that the legate being 
resolute, and hoping himself to be pope, would labour as for 
himself." x As to the directions given to his legate, it is 
sufficient to say that they fully carry out the principles of 
papal conservatism set forth in the letters of Yargas. 

The ambassadors at Wittemberg, being exhorted to pro- 
ceed, entreated Madrucci to mediate between themselves and 
the council, and procure the presentation of their letters. 
As it was still held necessary, however, to acquaint the 
legate with the subjects on which they would treat, they replied 
that their object was to obtain a safe-conduct, on the footing 
of the one given to the Bohemians at the Council of Basle, 
and to propound their doctrines ; that, it being examined by 
the fathers, they might be ready to confer with their divines, 
when they came. The legate, acting upon the instructions 
he had received from the pope, answered, " that it was not 
to be endured, that either they or any other Protestants 
should present their doctrine, much less be admitted to defend 
it, in regard there would be no end of contentions ; that it 
was the office of the fathers, which was observed until then, 
and ought to be continued, to examine their doctrine, taken 
out of their books, and condemn that which deserved it. If 
the Protestants had any difficulty, and did propose it humbly, 
and show themselves willing to receive instruction, it should 
be given by advice of the council. Therefore, he refused abso- 
lutely to assemble the fathers, and to receive their doctrine, 
and said, he could not change this opinion, though it should 
cost him his life. As for altering the safe-conduct, he said 
it was an exorbitant indignity to the council, that they 
should mistrust that which was granted ; and that to treat 
thereof was an unsupportable injury, and deserved that all 
the faithful should spend their lives in opposing it."? 

Madrucci, however, softened the harshness of this reply; 
and the emperor's ambassador made another attempt to pro- 
cure them a hearing, but in vain. Under these circumstances, 
knowing that the legate's refusal contradicted the promise 
made by the emperor, that all should have a hearing, he 
made various excuses for delay, and avoided giving a direct 
answer. 

* Sarpi, p. 335. 1 Ibid. p. 338. 



24:0 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



About the same time, John Sleidan arrived as ambassador 
from Strasburg, and deputies also came from five other cities. 
^Villiain de Poictiers, the emperor's third ambassador, was 
intrusted with the presentation of the doctrine ; but he, un- 
willing to fall into the same difficulty as his colleague, persuaded 
them to wait a few days, until he should hear from the 
emperor. Charles, wishing to provide against the disgrace 
of a broken promise, and expecting the ambassadors of the 
elector of Saxony, ordered the rest to be entertained until 
their arrival, promising that they should then receive a fair 
hearing. 

Some hope was entertained that the determinate resistance 
of the Protestants would be softened by the mediation of 
Maximilian, king of Bohemia, who chanced to pass near 
Trent, on Ins way to Germany, with his newly-married wife, 
the daughter of Charles Y. He entered the city between 
Crescenzio and Madrucci, accompanied by a splendid cortege, 
and was received in the most distinguished manner. He 
stayed but three days at Trent : but the ambassadors of the 
emperor succeeded in persuading those from Wittemberg 
and Saxony, to give an account of their embassage in a 
general congregation, to be held on the 24th of January, 
1552. 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Congregations on the Sacrament of Orders. 

Meanwhile, the sacrifice of the mass and the sacrament of 
orders 2 were receiving the attention of the congregations. 
The following propositions, extracted, accoixling to custom, 
from the writings of the reformers, were submitted to the 
attention of the prelates.* 

z I use the plural " orders," because most intelligible to Protestant 
readers ; but the technical word in Eoman Catholic theology is " order." 

a Nevertheless, the pope was far from feeling really interested in the 
council under existing circumstances. 

In a letter of the 29th of December, 1551, Vargas mentions the 
earnest desire of the pope for the suspension of the council. For this he 
alleges the following reasons : — Although dreading that, if the council 
he suspended, they may be obliged to consent to such a reform as is 
Teally necessary, or, by giving over the pretence that it belongs to the 
pope to reduce Germany and reform the Church — by which they will 
justify princes in applying proper remedies to their own kingdoms — still, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



241 



1. That the mass is not a sacrifice or oblation for sins, but 
merely a commemoration of the sacrifice accomplished on 
the cross ; and that it is called a sacrifice by the fathers in 
a metaphorical sense, 15 but is not really and properly such, 
but is only a witness and promise of the remission of sins. 

2. That the mass was not [derived] from the Gospel, nor 
instituted by Christ, but was invented by men ; and that it 
is not a good or meritorious work, but that rather therein is 
committed a manifest and manifold idolatry. 

3. That blasphemy is brought upon the most holy sacrifice 
of Christ accomplished on the cross, if any one believe that 
the Son of God is again offered unto God the Father by the 
priests in the mass ; and that, [to say] that Christ is mystically 
immolated and offered up for us, is nothing else' than that he 
is given unto us to eat. And that Christ in those words, 
" Do this in remembrance of me," did not enjoin that the 
apostles should offer his body and blood in the sacrifice of the 
mass. 

4. That as the canon of the mass abounds in errors and 
deceits, it should be withdrawn, and ought to be shunned 
even as the vilest abomination. 

5. That the mass avail eth neither the living nor the dead 
-as a sacrifice, and that it is impious to apply it for sins, for 
satisfactions, and other necessities. 

6. As no one communicates or is absolved in the place of 
another, so neither can the priest offer sacrifice for another 
in the mass. 

7. That private masses, in which, to wit, the priest only 
doth communicate, and not others, did not exist before 
Gregory the Great ; and that they are unlawful and ought 

by suspending the council, the pope may hope to gratify the king of 
France so far as to obtain, at all events, an advantageous peace, while 
the king will bear the blame of the suspension. Again, by suspending 
the council, they will hinder the Protestants from coming to it. Besides, 
the king of France may die, if they can gain delay ; and lastly, danger 
is to be feared should any accident again render the papal chair vacant. 

Vargas himself is heartily opposed to the proposed suspension, and, 
as much " because it is desired by the pope and his ministers, which, " 
in his opinion, " if there were nothing else, is reason enough for his 
majesty's being against it." On the 1st Jan. 1552, the electors o 
Mentz and Treves talked of departing from Trent. 

b Translato nomine. 

R 



242 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



to be withdrawn ; and that they are at variance with the 
institution of Christ, and rather represent excommunication, 
than the communion which was instituted by Christ. 

8. That wine is not the matter of this sacrifice ; and that 
it is contrary to the institution of Christ to mix water with 
wine in the cup. 

9. That the rite of the Roman Church, whereby the 
words of consecration are uttered in a secret and low tone of 
voice, is to be condemned ; and that the mass ought only to 
be celebrated in the vulgar tongue, which all can understand ; 
and that it is an imposition to attribute certain masses to 
certain saints. 

10. That, in the celebration of masses, all ceremonies, 
vestments, and outward signs, are rather incitements to 
inipiety, than offices of piety ; and as the mass of Christ 
was most simple, so, the nearer and more like a mass be unto 
that mass which was first of all. so much the more Christian 
it is. 

Of the sacrament of order. 

1. That order is not a sacrament, but a certain rite of 
choosing and constituting ministers of the word and the 
sacraments ; and that [to call] order a sacrament, is a human 
invention, devised bv men unskilled in matters of the 
Church. 

2. That order is not one sacrament, and that the lowest 
and middling orders tend, like steps, to the order of the 
priesthood. 

3. That there is no ecclesiastical hierarchy j but that all 
Christians alike are priests, and that to the use or execution 
[of their office.] there is need of the calling of the magistrate, 
and the consent of the people : and that he, who is once a 
priest, can again become a layman. 

4. That there is not in the Xew Testament a visible and 
outward priesthood, nor any spiritual power, whether to con- 
secrate the body and blood of our Lord, or to offer it up, or 
to absolve from sins before God ; but only the office and 
ministry of preaching the Gospel ; and that they who do not 
preach, cannot be priests. 

5. That unction is not required in the delivering down of 
orders ; but that it is pernicious, and to be despised, and in 
like manner are all other ceremonies ; and that by ordination 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



243 



the Holy Ghost is not conferred, and that bishops do im- 
pertinently say, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost," when they 
ordain. 

6. That bishops were not instituted of divine right, nor 
are superior to priests ; and that they have not the right 
of ordaining ; or, if they have, that it is common to priests 
with them ; and that ordinations made by them without the 
consent of the people, are null. 

Although there is reason to believe that a set of canons 
were drawn up relative to both these subjects, they did not 
transpire until the reign of Pius IV., when some modifica- 
tions were introduced. d 

CHAPTER XL. 

TJie Protestant Ambassadors heard in Congregation. 

On the 7th of January, 15-52, Wolf Coler and Leonard 
Badehorn, ambassadors from Maurice, elector of Saxony, 
arrived at Trent, to the great joy of the electors and the 
German prelates. Their object was the same as that of the 
other ambassadors, namely, to obtain a safe-conduct, and 
liberty to declare their doctrines in the public assemblies of 
the council, excluding all right of the pope to preside at the 
council. Little seemed likely to result from their visit, as 
they even declined visiting the presidents of the council, 
fearing that such an act might be construed into a recog- 
nition of the papal authority. 

On the 24th of January, 1552, it was resolved, after much 
dissension and ill-will, that the ambassadors should be al- 
lowed to declare their protestation before a general congre- 
gation. But before they were admitted, a protestation, to 
the following effect, was read : — " That the holy synod, not 
to hinder the progress of the council, by the disputes which 
would arise, when it should be duly examined, what sort of 
persons should appear in the synod, and what sort of man- 
dates and writings be presented, and in what places men 
should sit, doth declare, that if any be admitted for himself, 
or as a deputy, which ought not to be received by the dispo- 

c I have followed Le Plat, v. iv. p. 334, sqq. Cf. Sarpi, ed. Courayer, 
iv. §§ 30 and 34, with the notes. 
d Sarpi, p. 340. 

B 2 



244 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



sitions of the law, or use of the councils, or sit not in his 
right place ; or if mandates, instruments, protestations, or 
other writings, -which do, or may offend the honour, autho- 
rity, or power of the council, be presented, it shall be under- 
stood, that the present or future general councils shall not 
be prejudiced; it being the synod's meaning to restore peace 
and concord unto the Church by any means, so that they be 
lawful and convenient." 6 

The ambassadors from Wittemberg, as having arrived first, 
were admitted in the morning ; and having placed their form 
of confession f in the hands of Massarelli, required, that in 
the controversies respecting religion impartial judges should 
be chosen ; since it was impossible for the pope and his 
adherents to be judges in their own cause. 

The ambassadors of Maurice were introduced in the evening, 
and urged much the same demands, but at a greater length. 
They alleged, first, that the constitutions of the Council of 
Constances maintained, that towards heretics and those sus- 

e Brent's Sarpi, p. 345, sq. Cf. Le Plat, v. iv. p. 417, sq. 

f The Wittemberg confession will be found in Le Plat, p. 421, sqq. 
The complaints respecting the safe-conduct, &c. p. 460, sqq. I must 
observe, that Sarpi reverses the order in which the two embassies were 
received, in which mistake he is followed by Mendham, p. 160. 

s The decree of the Council of Constance to this effect will be found 
in vol. xxvii. p. 799, of the collection published at Venice, in fol., 1784. 
"Prassens sancta synodus et quovis salvoconductu per imperatorem, 
reges, et alios seculi principes, haereticis, vel de haeresi diffamatis, 
putantes eosdem sic a suis erroribus revocare, quocunque vinculo se 
adstrinxerint, concesso, nullum fidei Catholicse vel jurisdiction! eccle- 
siasticae praejudicium generari, vel impedimentum praestari posse, seu 
debere, declarat, quominus, dicto salvoconducto non obstante, liceat 
judici competenti et ecclesiastico de hujusmodi personarum erroribus 
inquirere, et alias contra eos debite procedere, eosdemque punire, 
quantum justitia suadebit, si suos errores revocare pertinaciter 
recusaverint, etiam si de salvoconductu confisi, ad locum venerint judicii, 
•alias non venturi : nec sic promittentem, cum fecerit quod in ipso est, 
ex hoc in ali quo remansisse obligatu." Compare the extract from another 
MS. justifying the execution of John Huss, ibid. p. 791. In vol. xxix. 
p. 27, will be found the safe-conduct granted to the Bohemians by the 
Council of Basle. The following passage is important : — " Salvum con- 

ductum concedimus atque damus ac in loco vel in locis hospi- 

tiorum suorum divina officia sine impedimento nostrorum peragere per- 
mittimus ; sic etiam, ut propter illorum praesentiam neque in itinere, 
neque in alio [qr. ali quo ?] itineris, in eundo, manendo, aut redeundo, 
neque in ipsa civitate Basileensi, a divinis officiis cessetur quovis modo 
per modum interdicti." It goes on to grant that, when in the council, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



245 



pected of heresy no public faith, and no safe-conduct, ought to 
be observed, whether given by an emperor, by kings, or by 
other parties, and under what pledge soever; and that persons, 
who, relying on such a safe-conduct, may have ventured to 
come, they are not free from the power of the ecclesiastical 
law. Unless this were repealed, as in the case of the synod 
of Basle, they would not be able to send their prelates to the 
council. 11 

I may briefly advert to a fact that Pallavicino mentions ; 
namely, that the fathers assembled objected to the safe- 
conduct granted to the Bohemians by the Council of Basle, 
because that council had then separated itself from the 
pontiff, and had become schismatical. This is important, as 
showing how wholly dependent the so-called general council 
really was upon the verdict of the Boman pontiff. 1 

"Articulos quatuor, pro quorum claritate instant, ore tenus aut in 

scriptis libere poterunt offerre, aut propalari, et si opus fuerit, 

etiam ad objecta concilii generalis respondere, aut cum aliquo vel ali- 
quibus de concilio super eisdem disputare, aut caritative absque omni 
impedimento conferre, opprobrio, convicio, aut contumelia procul motis" 

Again, should any shameful offences be committed, whether 

on the journey or when at Basle, "Volumus etiam, ac admittimus, et 
concedimus, ut talis vel tales in facinore hujusmodi deprehensi vel depre- 
hensus, ab ipsis duntaxat et non ab aliis, condigna animadversione cum 
emenda sufhcienti, per partem nostram merito approbanda et laudanda, 
mox puniatur aut puniantur, illorum assecurationis forma, conditionibus 
et modis omnino manentibus illibatis." It concludes with observing : 
"Insuper promittentes sine fraude et quolibet dolo, quod nolumus, 
neque debemus, occulte vel manifeste, quacumque occasione prsetensa, 
uti aliqua auctoritate, vel potentia, jure, statuto, vel privilegio legum 
vel canonum, et quorumcumque conciliorum, specialiter Constantiensis 
et Senensisquacunque forma verborum expressa, inaliquod prsejudicium 
salvoconductui, seu assecurationi, ac publicae audientise, ipsis per nos 
concessse vel concesso." 

h Pallavicino has endeavoured to gloss over this reference to previous 
councils, but with indifferent success. 

: The following remarks of Dr. Geddes are very descriptive of the 
general submissiveness of this council : — " An assembly so fettered by 
the popes under whom it sat, that from first to last nothing that looked 
like liberty or authority ever appeared in it, the pope that first called it 
having strictly charged his legates, who were its presidents, not to suffer 
any point of his authority to be disputed therein, nor to publish any 
decree in a session before they had sent a copy thereof to him, and to a 
congregation he had erected at Rome, on purpose to direct what was fit 
to be done at Trent, whose resolutions being despatched to the presi- 
dents, were punctually observed by them. These presidents, besides 



246 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



The second demand was. that the decision respecting the 
matters now before the council should be postponed until 
the arrival of the Protestant divines, who could not come 
imtil the safe-conduct was granted in the terms already 
stated. 

Thirdly, that such decrees as had already been passed at 
Trent, which were contrary to the tenor of the Augsburg 
Confession, should again be made subject of discussion, 
especially those respecting justification. They at the same 
time complained of the paucity of the assembly which had 
taken upon itself to decide matters so important, denying 
that their resolutions could be regarded as those of a general 
council. 

Fourthly, they required that the decrees of the Councils of 
Basle and Constance, declaring the pope inferior and subject 
to a general council, should be enforced \ that the bishops 
should be absolved from their oaths to the pontiff, and that 
the council should be enabled to act independently of the 
papal authority. 

The effect of this protest might easily be conjectured. 
But it cannot be dissembled, that the Protestant party, who 
had set the Council of Constance at nought when it took 
upon itself to condemn Luther, was now somewhat incon- 
sistent in appealing to its decrees for their own protection. 1 * 

Both embassies were promised an answer in due time. 
Upon their departure, it was determined that the canons 
resnectins: the sacrifice of the mass and the sacrament of 
order should be put off for the present. It was at the same 
time enjoined; that preparations should be made for con- 
sidering the sacrament of matrimony. Furthermore, a safe- 
conduct was drawn out, differing considerably from the 
previous one, 1 and worded nearly in the terms of the Synod 
of Basle. 

their having assumed a new authority of proposing all that was to be 
offered to the council, and their having by a band of pensioners secured 
the major vote to themselves, if any prelate had the honesty and courage 
to oppose any of the papal designs, they did brow-beat and silence him 
in the roughest manner : and in case the synod should on any occasion 
prove refractory, they had a bull always ready in their pocket, empower- 
ing them to translate or prorogue it, as they did twice upon frivolous 
pretences" (p. 64, sq.). 

k PaUav. xii. 15, 13. 1 P. 113, sqq. of my edition. 



COUNCIL OF TBENT. 



247 



The following day, January 25th, the fifteenth session was 
held, mass being celebrated by Niccolo Maria Caraccioli, 
bishop of Catanea, and the sermon preached by Giambattista 
Campeggio, bishop of Majorca. Nothing, however, was 
done, except the promulgation of two decrees, one proroguing 
the council till the 19th of March, 1552, the other granting 
the safe-conduct. It will be observed, that the safe-conduct 
now granted did not go to the extent of giving license to the 
Protestants to follow their own form of worship, which had 
been permitted them by the Synod of Basle. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

New Difficulties. Defeat of the Emperor. Suspension of the Council. 

We are now approaching a fresh narrative of Tridentine 
difficulties. While the history of the period which inter- 
vened between the last session and the resumption of the 
council under Pope Pius IY., is fraught with events of the 
most varied and engrossing interest, we must still content 
ourselves with a brief sketch of the state of the papal and 
imperial relations, which led to a denoument, in many re- 
spects such as few could have expected. 

Even in its present modified state, the safe-conduct was 
scarcely satisfactory 111 to the Protestants, although deputies 
from Wittemberg and Strasburg came to Trent with the 
view of entering upon the questions proposed for discussion. 
Thirty-three articles on the subject of matrimony had been 
laid before the prelates for their consideration ; but the 
emperor was induced by the Protestants to interfere, and 
procure the suspension of the disputations until the arrival 
of the Protestant theologians. The pope, although the sus- 
pension had actually taken place without waiting for his 
consent, refused to sanction any such proceeding, and ordered 
business to go on as usual. 11 

m Sarpi, p. 350. 

n f< In a MS. collection of letters of various pontiffs which I have 
consulted, occurs one of Julius III. to Crescenzio, in which, speaking of 
the proposals of the Spanish prelates, he says, ' that however well suited 
they might be for Spain, they would create confusion in the rest of 
Christianity.' His holiness proceeds to declare, that he does not wish 
to decline reformation, nor, with his predecessor, postpone it by pro- 
posing that the secular princes should reform themselves at the same 



248 



THE HISTORY OP THE 



About the end of February, the Saxon ambassadors re- 
ceived orders to continue their negotiations with the council ; 
and the elector of Saxony informed the assembly that he 
would shortly bring matters to a satisfactory issue, by a con- 
ference with the emperor. But the intelligence that the 
Protestants had leagued themselves with the king of France 
speedily dissipated any such expectations. The electors of 
Treves, Mentz, and Cologne left Trent, and on the first of 
April, the elector of Saxony laid siege to Augsburg, which 
surrendered on the third day. The whole Tyrol was speedily 
in arms, and the emperor and the pope were taken com- 
pletely by surprise. " War broke out by land and sea, and 
on every frontier where met the territories of the emperor 
and of the king of France. When the Protestants at last 
allied themselves to the French, they cast into the scale a 
weight very different from that of the Italians. The most 
determined attack Charles had ever sustained ensued, and 
the veteran conqueror, after taking up his position on the 
mountain-land between Italy and Germany, to keep them 
both in obedience, saw himself perilled, vanquished, and 
almost a prisoner." 

But before the emperor's flight from Inspruck,P the 
rumours of the war had given so much alarm, that the pre- 
lates were rapidly leaving Trent. Moreover, the legate Del 
Monte was seriously ill, and, finding him unfit to proceed 
with public business, the nuncios sent to Rome, and received 
a bull in which permission was given to suspend the council. 

The first of May had been appointed for the next session ; 
but so great was the alarm at Trent, that it was held two 
days sooner, — on the 28th of Aprils A decree, suspending 

time ; but, adds lie, ' We desire to begin from ourselves without delay, 
and that every abuse may be removed, but without taking away the 
power which we have immediately received from God.' The letter is 
dated January 16, 1552. This is the pontiff's oivn testimony concerning 
himself." — Mendham, p. 162, note. 
° Banke, p. 71. 

p " Before he departed from Inspruck, he set John Frederick, duke 
of Saxony, at liberty, to take the glory of his delivery from Maurice, 
which pleased that prince very much, whom it concerned more to be 
favoured by an enemy his superior than by an enemy his equal, and 
emulous." — Sarpi, p. 355. 

i They, however, chiefly on account of the opposition of the Spanish 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



24& 



the council conditionally for two years, and exhorting all 
Christian princes and prelates to observe and enforce 
everything hitherto enacted and decreed in the council, 
was carried, with some opposition. 1 But the sudden night 
of the emperor soon determined their course, and they 
followed the example of the rest. Even the legate, who 
was in the last stage of ill health, caused himself to be con- 
veyed by the Adige to Verona, where he expired three days 
after his arrival. " His arbitrary and irritable disposition, 
upon which the perplexities and vexations of such an assem- 
bly as that of Trent would operate with frightful effect, were 
doubtless the immediate cause of his premature disorder." s 

The latter part of the decree, in which obedience to the 
decrees of the council was recommended, gave great dissatis- 
faction, the nuncios being blamed for taking upon themselves 
what belonged to the authority of the Apostolic See : ano- 
ther satisfactory proof of the dependent character of this 
council. 

The emperor was reduced to great difficulties by the 
unforeseen issue of the war, and the pope looked upon it as- 
a visitation from God. 13 Nevertheless, there is little doubt 
that, in some respects, the papal interests were benefited by 
the suspension of a council, which had become a source of no 
small uneasiness. " Since the appearance of the German 
delegates, to whom promises of reformation had been made, 
the proceedings took a bolder course. Already, in 1522, the 
pope complained that attempts were made to despoil him of 
his authority ; that the intention of the Spanish bishops wa& 
on the one hand servilely to submit to the chapters, on the 
other to withdraw from the Holy See the patronage of all 
benefices : he would not, however, suffer that, under the 
title of abuses, he should be robbed of that which was not an 
abuse, but an essential attribute. It could not, therefore, 
have been wholly displeasing to him, that the attack of the 

prelate s, had avoided promulgating the document when they first 
received it. But the pontiff sent fresh instructions for the suspension 
of the council. 

r A form of protest against the suspension will be found in Le Plat, 
v. iv. p. 545, sq., signed by twelve prelates. 
s Mendham, p. 164. 

1 " Never could we have believed that God would so visit us." — Ep. 
al Crescentio, 13th April, 1552, in Ranke, I. c. note. 



250 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Protestants broke up the council : he hastened to decree its 
suspension. He was thereby rid of innumerable pretensions 
and disputes." 11 

Meanwhile, the unmeaning compromise published under 
the title of the Interim died a natural death, and the Confes- 
sion of Augsburg was restored to its former authority. Al- 
though the peace of Passau, in August, 1552, put an end to 
the war between the French king and the emperor, it did 
nothing to accelerate the resumption of the council. 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Concluding Events in the Life of Julius III. 

Whatever may have been the professions made by Julius 
III. in favour of reforms — professions, the real value of which 
the reader perhaps by this time can fairly estimate — the 
latter end of his reign presented a lamentable falling off 
from anything like conscientious exertion on their behalf. 
Sarpi quaintly remarks, that " the reformation was handled 
in the beginning with great heat ; afterwards it went on, for 
the space of many months, very coldly ; and, at the last, was 

u Ranke, p. 72. The following note of Mendham is important and 
interesting : — " It should not be omitted, that at this time it was medi- 
tated by Cranmer, our primate and reformer, to convoke a synod in 
England, for the purpose of counteracting the antichristian proceedings 
at Trent. This is directly asserted in a letter of Cranmer to Bullinger, 
first printed from Mr. Solomon Hess's copy of the manuscript at Zurich 
by Mr. Jenkyns, in his very valuable Remains of Cranmer, i. 344, dated 
Lambeth, March 20, 1552. His words are, after telling Bullinger that 
it needed not be suggested to him to advise his majesty not to send an 
ambassador to Trent, which he never thought of, ' sed potius consilium 
dandum esse duxi, ut quemadmodum adversarii nostri nunc Tridenti 
habent sua concilia, ad errores confirmandos ; ita ejus pietas auxilium 
suum praebere dignaretur, ut in Anglia, aut alibi, doctissimorum et 
optimorum virorum synodus convocaretur, in qua de puritate ecclesias- 
ticse doctrinae et prsecipue de consensu controversise sacramentarise 
tractaretur.' He had written to Melancthon and Calvin to this pur- 
pose ; and, indeed, there is extant, in Calvin's collected works, a letter 
of the same date, in which the archbishop repeats the suggestion. 
Calvin excuses himself from lending his personal assistance, although 
he wishes every success to the project. The project, however, in the 
extent contemplated, was abandoned, and for the future confined to 
national efforts." — Supplement to " Memoirs," p. 25, sq. 



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251 



buried in silence. And the suspension of the council, instead 
of two years, did continue ten ; verifying the maxim of the 
philosophers, that the causes ceasing, the effects do cease 
also. The causes of the council were, first, the great in- 
stances of Germany, and the hope, conceived by the world, 
that it would cure all the diseases of Christendom.* But the 
effects that were seen under Paul III. did extinguish the 
hope, and show to Germany that it was impossible to have 
such a council as they desired." Furthermore, as the same 
historian observes, Charles's interests had been enlisted rather 
in his own favour than in favour of the Church. He had 
made the pretext -of religion a medium for temporal aggran- 
dizement, but had never made the smallest sacrifice of his 
own power or advantage in favour of the Roman see. Too 
powerful an enemy to be acknowledged hostile, it had been 
the policy of the Roman court to keep on terms with Charles, 
often at the expense of papal honour, always with a feeling 
of mortification, for which his doubtful support ill compen- 
sated. The contrasts presented in the conclusion of the Elves 
of Pope Julius III. and of the Emperor Charles Y., is a curious 
study, upon which the psychologist and the historian may 
dwell with equally engrossed attention. 

Although circumstances tempt me to do so, I will not re- 
iterate the sad history of that most English of women, Lady 
Jane Gray, nor will I awaken the remembrance of her un- 
happy successor, Queen Mary. King Edward had recently 
died, and events, too painful to tempt me to dwell upon them, 

x Compare the following remarks of Calvin: — "When the Church 
was found to abound in corruptions, wheD severe contentions had sprung 
up respecting the doctrines of religion, a council was long and earnestly 
prayed for by many, who hoped that thereby there would be an end put 
to all existing evils. But their judgment was unsound in this respect, 
seeing that, in the present state of things, even those of moderate fore- 
sight will perceive that no alleviation of evils can be hoped for from 
those who have the power both of assembling and holding the council. 
But because no better means presented themselves, many good men, 
who wished well to the Church, hoped that some advantage would result 
therefrom. Thus what was at first desired by many, at last was 
demanded by the common voice of Christendom." — Calvini Antidoton, 
p. 32, ed. 1548. This work was severely attacked in " Joannis Calvini 
in Acta Synodi Tridentini Censura et ejusdem brevis Confutatio, circa 
duas praesertim calumnias," per Joann. Cochlgeum, m.d.xlviii. 



/ 



252 THE HISTORY OF THE 

had placed Mary on the throne. Over her sad and profitless 
reign I gladly draw the veil which should screen those objects 
which are too revolting to be even useful as examples. 

Suffice it only to say, that the as yet unsettled state of 
religion in England gave way before the influence of a sys- 
tem which had a Bonner for its advocate ; and that the 
now trivial and debauched mind of Julius III. found a 
pleasing consolation, in our backslidings, for the manly and 
determined resistance with which Germany had met his 
efforts against the Reformation. 

But the political life of this pope was at an end. He had 
been a pope and a politician from circumstances, and his 
natural readiness had adapted the man of pleasure to the 
easy treatment of duties and responsibilities, for the fitting 
execution of which he lacked both moral integrity and firm- 
ness. His character presents favourable and disagreeable 
points almost simultaneously. The lively bonhomie of his 
domestic life, his free and easy wit, and sparkling conversa- 
tion, are too much defiled with coarse buffoonery >* and flip- 
pancy, to charm the most enthusiastic lover of Italian naivete. 
The exquisite taste which planned and adorned the villa at 
the entrance of the Porta del Popolo, 2 is only forgotten in 
the consciousness that it was a refuge from the bitter vex- 
ations of a disappointed and doubtfully-spent life. Too much 
fondness for the pleasures of the table contributed to accele- 
rate the conclusion of his declining years, and he died of 
fever, on the 23rd of March, 1555, in the sixty-eighth year 
of his age. 

y Bayle's article on Pope Julius III. will supply ample and authentic 
details, more witty and amusing than creditable to papal morality. 
The following is a brief, somewhat favourable, but generally just, esti- 
mate of his character, setting aside his intrigues respecting the council : 
"Fuit Julius procero corpore, prolixa barba, acribus oculis, grandiore 
naso, subagresti vultu ; animo tamen benigno et integro, mirificus jus- 
titiae et gequitatis cultor, moribus suavis, ad iram facilis, sed, ea effer- 
vescente, mitissimus. Erat prseterea doctus sermone, scientia eruditus, 
aditu non difficilis, ad liberalitatem propensus, ac tandem publics pacis 
et domesticse quietis studiosissimus." — Ciacc. Yitse Pontif. t. iii. p. 746* 

z See Ranke, p. 72. 



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253 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

Pope Marcelhts II. 

The Protestant party had meanwhile retained their ascen- 
dancy ; the rupture between the two great Catholic powers 
was becoming wider and more dangerous ; and the prospects 
of the Romish church were at once doubtful and unpros- 
perous. A different order of men was wanted to sustain the 
degraded chair of St. Peter in its ancient grandeur. The 
laxity of previous pontiffs had made the court of Rome a 
by- word for e very thin g that ought to have been least asso- 
ciated with the mention of religion ; and the council, which 
had been looked to as a panacea for every mischief of the 
times, had already dragged out a lengthy existence, tedious 
even to those most immediately concerned in its interests, 
and fraught with little decided benefit to the world at large. 

Marcello Cervini, the faithful colleague and second legate 
of the previous pope, assumed the honours and anxieties of 
the papacy on the 11th of April, 1555. From some private 
reasons, he preferred retaining his own name, to following 
the usual custom of the pontiffs, and taking another. 

Great hopes were entertained from the election of a man, 
whose " whole life had been earnest and irreproachable, and 
who, in his own person, had exhibited that reformation of the 
Church, of which others but talked. 6 1 had prayed,' says a 
contemporary, 'that there might come a pope, who should know 
how to redeem the fair words, — church, council, and reform, 
from the contempt into which they had fallen : through this 
election, I deemed my hope fulfilled ; my wish appeared to 
have become a fact.' ' The opinion,' says another, f entertained 
of this pope's worth and incomparable wisdom, filled the 
world with hope : now, if ever, it was thought, will it be 
possible for the Church to extinguish heresy, to reform 
abuses and corruption of manners, to become whole and 
sound again, and once more united.' Marcellus began 
entirely in this spirit. He did not suffer his relations to 
come to Pome : he made a multitude of retrenchments in 
the expenditure of the court : he is said to have drawn up 
a catalogue of the principal reforms requisite in the ecclesias- 
tical institutions : he immediately endeavoured to restore its 



254: 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



genuine solemnity to divine worship : all his thoughts turned 
on a council on reform." a 

The moderate, yet firm disposition of this pontiff, would 
doubtless have worked an important change in the existing 
state of the Church ; but life was denied him. Various plans 
of reformation, tempered, however, with counter-measures 
for the safety of the papal authority, were agitated during 
his brief pontificate; but a fit of apoplexy terminated his life, 
after a reign of twenty-two days. 

CHAPTER XLIY. 

Macaulay's Remarks on the Change of the Papal Character. Pope 
Paul IV. 

The characters of the lives of the pontiffs, almost up to 
the present time, had been, with but few exceptions, a 
scandal to the Christian name. Even the more respectable 
members of the court of Rome have been well described by the 
greatest essayist of the day, as utterly unfit to be ministers 
of religion. " They were," says Macaulay, " men who, with 
the Latinity of the Augustan age, had acquired its atheistical 
and scoffing spirit. They regarded those Christian mysteries, 
of which they were stewards, just as the augur Cicero and 
the high pontiff Csesar regarded the Sibylline books and the 
pecking of the sacred chickens. Among themselves, they 
spoke of the incarnation, the eucharist, and the Trinity, in 
the same tone in which Cotta and Velleius talked of the 
oracle of Delphi in the voice of Eaunus in the mountains. 
Their years glided by in a soft dream of sensual and in- 
tellectual voluptuousness. Choice cookery, delicious wines, 
lovely women, hounds, falcons, hoises, newly-discovered 
manuscripts of the classics, sonnets and burlesque romances 
in the sweetest Tuscan, just as licentious as a fine sense of 
the graceful would permit ; plate from the hand of Benvenuto, 
designs for palaces by Michael Angelo, frescoes by Raphael, 
busts, mosaics, and gems just dug up from among the ruins 
of ancient temples and villas ; these things were the delight 
and even the serious business of their lives. Letters and the 
fine arts undoubtedly owe much to their not inelegant sloth. 



a Eanke, p. 72, sq. 



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255 



" But," continues this elegant historian, u when the great 
stirring of the mind of Europe began, when doctrine after 
doctrine were assailed, when nation after nation withdrew 
from communion with the successors of St. Peter, it was felt 
that the Church coiild not be safely confided to chiefs whose 
highest praise was that they were good judges of Latin 
compositions, of paintings, and of statues; whose severest 
studies had a pagan character, and who were suspected of 
laughing in secret at the sacraments which they administered, 
and of believing no more of the Gospel than of the Morgante 
Maggiore. 

"Men of a different class now rose to the direction of eccle- 
siastical affairs, men whose spirit resembled that of Dunstan 
and of Becket. The Poman pontiffs exhibited 'in their own 
persons all the austerity of the early anchorites of Syria." 5 

It is in the life of Paul IV. that the truth of these 
remarks begins to be exemplified j but our limits preclude our 
entering into any details of his career, except such as in any 
way relate to the council. The masterly biography of Banke 
prevents my having any regret in being unable to attempt 
what he has already done so well. 

Giovanni Pietro CarafFa, who took the name of Paul IV., 
was elected on the 23rd of May, 1555, very much against 
the will of the emperor. Moreover, the rigid austerity of 
his manners was sufficient to alarm many of those upon 
whom the consequences of reform would operate most 
actively. 

In the bull published at the commencement of his pontifi- 
cate, this disposition was manifested very clearly. " We 
promise and vow," says the pope, " to make it in truth our 
care, that the reform of the Universal Church, and the 
Boman court, shall be set on foot." Even the day of his 
coronation was marked by a movement in favour of reforma- 
tion. Two monks were sent from Mount Cassino iuto Spain, 
to restore the decayed discipline of the convents. A con- 
gregation of cardinals, prelates, and theologians, was appointed 
to discuss questions relating to the collation to benefices ; and 
there seemed now a probability that the dormant idleness of 

b Macaulay's Essay on Ranke's History of the Popes, p. 23, sq. in 
Longman's Traveller's Library. 
c Sarpi, p. 366. 



256 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the court of Rome would be roused into something like a 
conscientious activity. 

The diet held at Augsburg, meanwhile, came to an agree- 
ment on the 2oth of September, to the following effect : that, 
in the absence of a general national council to settle the 
points at issue connected with religion, the emperor Charles, 
Ferdinand, and the Catholic princes and states, should not 
force those of the Augsburg Confession to forsake the religion 
and ceremonies they at present followed, or should hereafter 
follow, and should not show any contempt thereunto ; pro- 
vided the other party observed a similar conduct towards the 
Catholics. Furthermore, if any ecclesiastic should abandon 
the old religion, he was only to be punished by the loss of 
benefices held under its authority ; but the benefices already 
annexed by Protestants to schools and ministries of their own 
establishments, were to remain in the same state. 

The free and liberal tenor of this recess gave great offence 
to the new pontiff, and he bitterly reprehended Ferdinand 
for daring to approve of a religious treaty without the con- 
sent of the Apostolic See, and threatened to make the emperor 
repent the offence he had offered, and exhorted them to 
revoke it, by revoking and annulling the privileges granted, 
lest he should be compelled to proceed, not only against the 
Lutherans, but also against the princes who had thus abetted 
them. He even volunteered the assistance of his authority 
and arms. In vain the ambassadors alleged the strength of 
the Protestants, the failure of the emperor at Inspruck, and 
the oaths which had "been plighted." For the oaths, he 
answered, that he freed and absolved them, yea, commanded 
not to observe them. To the rest, he said, that in God's 
cause, we must not proceed according to human respects. 
That the emperor was in danger, by God's permission, because 
he did not what he could and ought to do to reduce Germany 
to the obedience of the apostolical see : that this is but a 
token of God's anger, and that he must expect greater 
punishment, if he take not warning by it ; but carrying 
himself as a soldier of Christ undauntedly, and without 
worldly respects, he shall obtain all manner of victory, as 
the examples of the times past do demonstrate. d 



d Sarpi, p. 370. 



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257 



If any pope ever knew how to assert the papal rights to 
temporal power, it was Paul IV. To deliver the popedom 
from the Spanish yoke became the dearest object of his life ; 
and the increasing misfortunes of the emperor seemed to pre- 
sent the most tempting opportunity for achieving it. The 
house of Caraffa had long been a faithful adherent of the 
Trench party; and the emperor, who had long known and 
suspected Paul as a cardinal, was now involved in perpetual 
disputes with him in his more dangerous dignity. Such 
cardinals and other vassals of the pope as were inclined to 
the emperor's cause, were imprisoned, or forced to take night, 
and lose their possessions. He entered openly into the 
alliance with the French king, observing that " the emperor 
only thought to put an end to him by a kind of mental 
fever ; but he would come to an open conflict ; and with the 
help of the king of France, he would seek to free poor Italy 
from the tyranny of the Spaniards : he hoped yet to see two 
French sovereigns in Milan and Naples." e 

Briefly to sum up his proceedings — all ideas of reformation 
were abandoned in favour of the emancipation of the pope- 
dom ; the ascetic priest was lost in the warrior ; and, while the 
emperor, in his last days, was seeking the humble consolations 
of religious retirement, the aged pope was casting aside his 
long-nurtured piety, and planning the destruction of the ene- 
mies, who had dared to dispute his authority. He raised to 
the rank of cardinal his nephew, Carlo Caraffa, who had led 
the dissolute life of a soldier, and of whom even Paul IV. 
had said, "that his arm was dyed in gore to the elbow." f 
The hypocrisy, however, of Carlo, and still further, his detes- 
tation of the emperor, who had treated him with ingratitude, 
served to silence all doubts ; and the pontiff's previous dislike 
to nepotism was soon lost in his anxiety to gain creatures, 
whose recklessness of principle, while it rendered them dan- 
gerous enemies, made them unscrupulous agents in the cause of 
the Roman see. When his other nephews contrived to forget 
their adherence to the emperor, they fared equally well. 
"Wealth, titles, and honours, were rained upon their heads 
with a profusion, that seemed to justify any ambition, how 
aspiring soever might be its pretensions. 



e Ranke, p. 74. 



s 



Ibid. p. 75. 



258 



THE HISTORY OP THE 



I must pass over the details of the war which broke out 
between the pope and the duke of Alva, and the course of 
battles, skirmishes, riot, and bloodshed, into which this " vicar 
of God" succeeded in involving Rome. Suffice it to say, 
that a peace, bought by the total failure of all his prospects, 
was the sole result j although the zeal of the Spaniards for 
Catholicism rendered them superstitious enemies, and sub- 
missive conquerors.^ 

Nor can I enter into the sad story, too common in Italian 
history, how those, for whom the aged pope had sacrificed 
justice and honour, turned against him ; and, by the baseness 
of their lives, forced him to cast from him those nephews 
whom he had raised to affluence and glory. He was not the 
first pope, whose last years were embittered by the evil deeds 
of those, whose prosperity he had purchased by his own sin ; 
for whose worldly ends he had staked his own soul. 

Foiled in his struggles to vindicate the power of the 
papacy by war, Paul IV. now betook himself to the work of 
reformation, civil and political. 

" He introduced a stricter discipline into the churches ; he 
forbade all begging, even the collections of the clergy for 
masses. He removed all offensive pictures. A medal was 
struck representing him under the type of Christ clearing 
the temple. He banished from his city and territories the 
fugitive monks. He compelled the court regularly to observe 
the fasts, and to solemnize Easter by receiving the Lord's 
Supper. Nay, the cardinals were obliged to preach occa- 
sionally. The pope himself set the example. He endea- 
voured to suppress many profitable abuses. He would hear 
no more of marriage dispensations or their produce. A 
host of places, that had hitherto been sold, including those 
of the chiericati di camera, he determined should be disposed 
of according to merit. He insisted still more strongly on 

s " Peace was concluded by the Spaniards in the same spirit as they 
had carried on the war. They gave him back all the castles and cities 
belonging to the Church ; and they even promised the CarafFas a com- 
pensation for Palliano, which they had lost. Alva went to Rome, and 
kissed with profound reverence the foot of him he had vanquished, of 
the sworn foe of his nation and his king. He has been known to say, 
that he never feared the face of man as he did the pope's." — Ranke, 
P. 77. 



COUNCIL OF TREXT. 



259 



the worth and clerical habits of those on whom ecclesiastical 
offices were bestowed. He no longer tolerated the compacts 
so long and so generally in vogue, in consequence of which 
one man performed the duties of an office, and another enjoyed 
the best part of its revenues. He also entertained the design 
of restoring to the bishops many of the rights of which they 
had been despoiled, and highly disapproved of the rapacity 
with which everything had been absorbed into Rome. 

"His reforms were not merely negative, they were not 
confined to undoing. He sought to surround public worship 
with a greater pomp. The decoration of the Sixtine chapel, 
and the representation of the holy sepulchre, are to be 
ascribed to him. There is an ideal of the modern Catholic 
worship full of dignity, devotion, and splendour, and this 
conception it was that floated before his mind too. 

" It was his boast that he let no day pass without promul- 
gating some order towards the restoration of the Church to 
its original purity. In many of his decrees we trace the 
outlines of those ordinances, to which the Council of Trent 
shortly afterwards gave its sanction." 11 

But although there is no doubt that a practical reform 
was working in many directions, and with considerable 
spirit, it was not such a reform as would be likely to com- 
pose the dissensions with which Christendom was rent, still 
less to conciliate the Protestant party. He received with 
furious rage the news that the duke of Bavaria had permit- 
ted the use of the cup to the laity ; and he gave an impatient 
and haughty refusal to the requests made by the Polish 
ambassadors for the like permission, for the marriage of 
priests, and for the celebration of mass in the vernacular 
tongue. The Spaniards, who had shown an obvious desire 
to conciliate the reformed party, he execrated as schismatics, 
heretics, and infidels, and could only console himself with 
the text, " Thou shalt walk upon serpents, thou shalt tread 
upon lions and dragons." 1 For popularity he cared little, 
and the softer virtues of mercy and forbearance found no 
place in his stern and hardened breast. 

For the council he had little care. Although he had once 
thought of convoking such an assembly in the Lateran 



h Ranke, p. 79. 



s2 



1 Ibid.p. 74. 



260 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



church, his proud opinion of papal infallibility stood in the 
way of any such design, and the ipse dixit of a bull was 
more congenial to his hatred of all control. The proposal 
for a council he once resisted with great indignation, saying 
that " he had no need of a council, "himself being above all." 
When it was farther alleged " that a council was necessary, 
not to add authority to the pope, but to find a means for 
execution, which cannot be uniform in all places, he con- 
cluded, that, if a council were necessary, it should be held 
in Rome, and that it were not needful to go elsewhere ; that 
he had never consented that the council should be held in 
Trent, as was known to all, because it was in the midst of 
the Lutherans ; that the council should consist of bishops 
only, and that none but Catholics should be admitted, even 
for consultation." k Such were the notions of a man, who, 
while we must pay a tribute of admiration to his inflexible 
firmness, excites our deepest horror by his bigoted cruelty, 
and his blasphemous presumption. Had not many a strong 
antagonistic force presented itself, Paul IV. might have 
ruled the world. 

The Inqusition was his darling toy. He would oftentimes 
let pass the days appointed for a consistory, but never 
omitted the Thursday on which the inquisitors assembled in 
his presence. He increased the rigours of its proceedings, 
and his name stands blackened with memory of the foul 
tortures, that an aged sinner gave the iniquitous privilege to 
inflict. No respect for rank, ability, or private virtue could 
stand against the orthodox mania; even cardinals, whom 
he had employed in the criticism of religious treatises, were 
thrown into prison upon the suspicion of im sound doctrine; 
and the saintly inquisitor Dominic was held up to the admi- 
ration of the bigoted, and the everlasting contempt of the 
thinking part of mankind, by an annual festival in his 
honour. 

At last, after a career of conscientious cruelty, Pope 
Paul IV. breathed his last, on the 18th of August, 1-559, 
commending his soul to the prayers, and the Inquisition to 
the care, of his cardinals. Christian mercy bids us hope that 
the former might be more successful than the latter has 



k Sarpi ; p. 374. 



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261 



proved. Grievous and grovelling must the persecutor appear 
before the face of Him, who pronounced that " the merciful 
are blessed." But, in their earthly lives, as Banke well ob- 
serves, " these men of decided and passionate temperament 
are happier than weaker natures, in that their prejudices 
dazzle them, but at the same time steel them, and make 
them intrinsically invincible." 1 

To " kick the dead lion" is one of the most common and 
most despicable acts of the mob. During his lifetime the 
people of Italy had crouched beneath the glance of the 
haughty pontiff ; now he was dead, the remembrance of the 
war in which he had embroiled Rome, and of a thousand 
acts of sternness and severity, sprang up in fearful distinct- 
ness. Some destroyed his monuments, others pillaged and 
destroyed the buildings of the Inquisition. The statue that 
had been erected in honour of the pontiff, was torn down 
from its pedestal, broken to pieces, and the head with the 
triple crown dragged by the infuriate populace through the 
dust and confusion of the streets of Borne. m 

Great were the losses which Catholicism had sustained, 
Scandinavia and Britain had revolted ; Germany was almost 
entirely in favour of the reformed creed; Poland and Hun- 
gary were in a state of confusion and disaffection ; Geneva 
was the rallying-poirt of the Latin nations and the West, 
exactly as Wittemberg was the central station for the Ger- 
man nations and the East. Even in France and the Nether- 
lands, Protestantism had her stanch converts and supporters, 

" But one last hope," as Banke observes, " remained to the 
Catholic faith. In Spain and Italy the symptoms of dissent 
had been quelled, and a strict spirit of ecclesiastical restora- 
tion had arisen. However disadvantageous was the secular 
policy of Paul TV. in other respects, he had yet achieved the 
supremacy of that spirit in the court and the palace. The 

1 Ranke, p. 79. " Sentendosi vicino al morire, chianib a se i cardi- 
nali, e con voce di moribondo, ma con facondia piti che di moribondo, 
gli confortb alia concordia, ed a non avere nella elezione del nuovo pon- 
tefici altro rispetto, che quello del servizio di Dio. Ne a cib contento, 
raccomando loro in quell' estremo punto la sua prediletta inquisizione, 
la quale egli stimava potissimo propugnacolo contro le eresie." — Botta, 
Storia d' Italia, v. ii. p. 404, from Pallav. xiv. 9, 4. 

m See Mocenigo in Eanke, p. 80, note; and Ciaccon. Vitt. Pontt. v. iii. 
p. 813. 



262 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



question was, whether it would continue to maintain itself 
there, or whether it would once more be enabled to pervade 
and unite the Catholic world." 

CHAPTER XLY. 

Election of Pope Pius IV. 

Persecution was raging in France, and the vilest means 
were employed in furthering the views of the odious tribu- 
nals of the Inquisition. In England, the death of wretched 
Mary, and the accession of Elizabeth, had wrought a change, 
with the benefits of which we are, happily, too well ac- 
quainted, to need further information in the present volume. I 
therefore proceed at once to the election of Pope Pius IV., who 
may fairly be regarded as the successful finisher of the Council 
of Trent, a work which, had he begun, might have been, in 
many respects, more satisfactory and fraught with less error. 
Appearing, as he did, as the defender and finisher of a fore- 
gone scheme, he had disadvantages to contend with, previous 
errors to maintain, which nipped the fairer work of refor- 
mation, and utterly destroyed all hope of conciliation with 
those who had cast off their allegiance to Pome. 

After an unusually long interval, and after various intrigues 
and dissensions, Giovanni Angelo, cardinal de Medici, was 
chosen pope, and took the name of Pius TV. He was of 
humble origin; but his father Bernardino was a man. of 
excellent character and unwearied perseverance, and had 
accumulated a small fortune by government contracts. His 
elder son, Giangiacomo, took to the military profession, suc- 
ceeded in possessing himself of the castle of Mus, on the Lake 
of Como, and, after a long career of unscrupulous violence 
and marauding warfare, established himself as an indepen- 
dent prince, and subsequently commanded the imperial 
army in the successful siege of Sienna. His brother's success 
had been simultaneous with his own, but was of a totally 
different character. Having acquired considerable fame as 
a professor of civil law, he had succeeded in gaining the con- 
fidence of Paul III., and on the marriage of his brother with 
an Orsina, sister to the wife of Pietro Luigi, he was created 
cardinal. His whole early career had been marked by a 
praiseworthy struggle against difficulties ; and although his 



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263 



circumstances were at first so straitened, that Pasqua, his phy- 
sician, accommodated him with the use of a servant, and fur- 
nished him with various necessaries, 11 his perseverance never 
flagged, and he gradually became the confidential associate 
of the heads of the Church, and, eventually, supreme pontiff. 

The stern and unflinching disposition of the previous pontiff 
was ill suited to the open and good-humoured character of 
the cardinal de Medici, and, on one occasion, his dislike had 
manifested itself so visibly, that the latter thought it safest 
to withdraw from Koine. Living a life divided alternately 
between the delights of literature and the most liberal charity 
towards the poor, he resided sometimes at the baths of Pisa, 
sometimes at those of Milan. 

The admirable biographer of papal Pome- has so well 
summed up the features, which formed so marked a contrast 
between the characters of Paid IY. and Pius IY, that 
I make no apology for transferring his words to my own 
pages : — 

" Paul IY. was a Neapolitan of high birth, of the anti- 
Austrian faction, a zealot, a monk, and an inquisitor. Pius 
IY. a Milanese parvenu, closely connected through his bro- 
ther and some German relations with the house of Austria, 
a jurist, of a jovial and worldly disposition. Paul IY. had 
stood aloof and inaccessible ; in his least actions he aimed at 
displaying dignity and majesty ; Pius was all goodness and 
condescension. He was daily seen on foot or on horseback 
in the streets, almost without attendants ; he talked affably 
with everybody. The Yenetian despatches make us fully 
acquainted with him. The ambassadors come upon him as 
he writes or transacts business in a cool hall : he rises and 
walks up and down with them; or they meet him as he is 
proposing to visit the Belvedere : he seats liimself without 
laying down his stick, hears what they have to say without 
further ceremony, and then sets off on his excursion in their 
company. Whilst he treats them in this familiar way, he 
looks too for courteous address and deference on their parts. 
The clever sallies with which the Yenetians sometimes accost 
him, delight him, and elicit his smile and plaudits. Stanch 
partisan of Austria as he is, he is disgusted at the unbending 



n Soranzo, in Ranke, p. 82, note. 



264 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



and imperious manners of the Spanish ambassador Vargas. 
He dislikes to be encumbered with details, which soon 
fatigue him ; but those who conhne themselves with him to 
general important matters, always find him good-humoured 
and easy to deal with. On such occasions he pours out a 
thousand cordial protestations, how heartily he hates the 
bad, how by nature he loves justice, and desires to molest no 
man's freedom, but to evince good feeling and friendliness to 
every one : but especially his thoughts are bent on labouring 
with all his might for the Church, and hopes to God he will 
be able to effect something for its good. We may easily 
picture him to ourselves ; a hale bmiy old man, still active 
enough to reach his country house before sunrise, with a 
cheerful face and lively eye ; fond of conversation, good 
cheer, and merriment. Recovered from an illness that had 
been deemed alarming, he throws himself on his horse, rides 
off to the dwelling he had occupied when a cardinal, runs 
nimbly up and down the stairs, and cries, 6 ISTo ! no ! we 
are not going to die yet.' "° 

As might be expected from his general character, Pius IV. 
had little sympathy with the Inquisition. He disliked the 
monkish harshness of its proceedings, and seldom attended 
its meetings : but, on the other hand, he was either too fear- 
ful of interfering with any engine calculated to support the 
papal authority, or too indolent to involve himself in theo- 
logical disputes. In this respect he was passively a bigot; 
and the Inquisition lost none of the disgraceful and dangerous 
influence which it had acquired under the fostering care of 
his predecessor. 

But, with all his faults, it cannot be denied that to Pius IV. 
belongs the merit of having been tha most practical pope 
that ever sat on the papal throne. His temperate and easy 
disposition was admirably calculated to meet the difficulties 
with which the extreme principles of his predecessor had 
surrounded the Vatican; and his consequent popularity was 
likely to have its full weight in bringing to terms many, 
whom the uncompromising sternness of Paul IV. could only 
irritate and render still more disaffected. 

Before, however, he bestowed any attention upon the 



Kanke, p. 82. 



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2G5 



council; which had so long lain dormant, he resolved upon 
punishing the nephews of his predecessor. A process was 
instituted against them, in which scarcely a single human 
crime did not find its place; while a more immediate charge 
was found in their perpetual deceptions practised upon the 
late pontiff, of whose age they had taken every possible 
advantage. Yain were their protestations of innocence ; sen- 
tence of death was pronounced by Pius upon the cardinal, 
the duke of Palliano, and the counts Cioffe and Leonardo di 
Cardino, and thus perished these ungrateful favoiirites of 
nepotism.? 

Having thus punished the delinquents,^ Pius IV. now 
determined to apply himself to the business of the council. 
Among the many features of contrast presented by the dis- 
positions of this pontiff and his predecessor, by no means the 
smallest, is the unquestionable desire of Pius to see the coun- 
cil brought to a satisfactory issue. That many delays and 
disappointments still retarded it, will be seen as we proceed ; 
but the general justice of the following remarks of Panke 
will, I think, remain unquestioned. 

"It is certain that Pius IY. could not, without the 
greatest difficulty, have resisted the call for a council. He 
could no longer make war a pretext for refusal, as his prede- 
cessors had done, for at last all Europe was at peace. The 
measure was even of urgent necessity, on his own account, 
since the French were threatening to assemble a national 
council, which might very possibly have led to a schism. 
But in truth, I find that, apart from all this, he was very 
well inclined that way. Let us hear himself. 6 We desire 
the council,' he says, ' we desire it assuredly, and we desire 

p Before his death, the duke of Palliano sent the following religious 
and touching letter to his little son, Diomede, at Naples :- — 

" Desidero, che voi un animo grande in questo successo della mia 
morte far dobbiate, e che non ni governiate da putto, ma da uomo savio,. 
e non guardiate a quello, che la carne vi detta, o la tenerezza di vostro 
padre, owero le altre ciance del mondo ; gli vassal i, amategli, onora- 
tegli, e accarezzategli, ne gli toccate mai nell' onor delle donne, e siate 
casto e continente, quanto potete, che e una gran virtu, e cosa grata a 
Dio. Ma il tempo manca, e me ne vo alia morte." — Botta, ii. p. 411. 

i The quaintness of Botta is amusing : — " Pio IV. proveduto alia 
propria famiglia, e castigato quella dell' antecessore, applicava I animo 
ai negozi, che dabbano stare principalmente a cuore di un pontefice 
Romano." — P. 412. 



266 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



it general. "Were it not so, we might throw obstacles in the 
way, and dally with the expectations of the world for years : 
but we are, on the contrary, much more disposed to remove 
all hindrances. What needs reform shall be reformed, even 
in our own person and in our own affairs. If we have any 
other thought than to do God service, may God chastise us 
accordingly.' It often appeared to him that he did not 
meet with sufficient assistance from the several sovereigns 
towards so great a design. One morning, the Venetian 
ambassador found him in bed, crippled with the gout, and 
immersed in thought. ' Our purpose is good,' he exclaimed, 
■ but we are alone.' ' I was seized with pity,' says the 
ambassador, 6 to see him as he lay in bed, and to hear him 
say, " We are alone to bear so heavy a burthen." ' Mean- 
while, however, he set the work in progress. On the 18th 
of January, 1562, there were so many bishops and delegates 
assembled in Trent, that it was possible to resume, for the 
third time, the twice-interrupted council. The pope had 
mainly contributed to this. ' Assuredly,' says Girolamo 
Soranzo, who does not take his part on other occasions, 
c his holiness has shown in this matter all the zeal that was 
to be expected of so great a chief shepherd ; he has neg- 
lected nothing that could conduce towards so holy and so 
necessary a work.' " 

But the expectations to be realized by a council were now 
of a different character. In the words of the same author : — 

" The state of the world was entirely altered since the 
first assembling of this council. The pope had no longer 
reason to fear that a powerful emperor would avail himself 
of it to become master of the popedom. Ferdinand I. had 
no power whatever in Italy ; nor waL any serious diversity 
of opinion on essential dogmas now to be apprehended. 
These, in the form in which they had been confirmed, though 
not fully developed, had already become predominant through- 
out a great part of the Catholic world. A reunion of the 
Protestants with the Church was no longer seriously to be 
thought of. They had assumed in Germany a powerful and 
henceforth unassailable position : in the north their eccle- 
siastical notions had been incorporated with the state 
policy, and the same thing was just now taking place in 
England. "When the pope declared that the new council 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



267 



was but a continuation of the former, and finally silenced 
the voices raised against this declaration, he virtually aban- 
doned all hope of the kind. How could the free Protestants 
acquiesce in a council by whose earlier resolutions the most 
important articles of their faith had been already condemned? 
In this way the influence of the council was limited before- 
hand to the exceedingly contracted circle of the Catholic 
nations. Its purpose could, on the whole, extend only to 
settling the disputes between the latter and the supreme 
ecclesiastical authority ; to the establishment of dogmas on 
some points as yet undetermined ; and, above all, to the 
completion of the internal reform already begun, and the 
issuing of rules of discipline which should be of iiniversal 
authority." r 

CHAPTER XLYI. 

Bull for the Continuation of the Council. 

Having sent various despatches to the different courts of 
Europe, of which we shall have occasion to speak hereafter, 
Pius IV. having obtained the approbation of the cardinals and 
chief princes as to the council being continued at Trent, in 
a consistory held on the loth of November, 1560, ordered 
a jubilee to be proclaimed throughout Christendom, and 
intrusted three cardinals with the task of drawing up a bull 
of convocation. On the 29th, the bull was published, 8 in 

r Ranke, p. 84. 

s It will be found p. 119, sqq. of my translation. Against this bull, 
and the other proceedings respecting the reassembling of the council, 
Vergerius, now a convert, wrote a tract under the following title : — 
" Concilium non modo Tridentinum, sed omne papisticum perpetuo 
fugiendum esse omnibus piis. Authore Vergerio, anno m.d.liii." with 
the following motto : — 

MUSCULUS. 

f Causa dijudicanda quas ? — Controversial inter Papistas et 
Lutheranos. 

Judices qui ? — Papa cum suis conjuratis Episcopis et Pro3- 
In Concilio ^ latis, seductionis a Lutheranis annos supra 30 accusati. 
Tridentino ' Accusatores qui? — Iidem qui et judices. 

Rei qui ? — Lutherani, PapaMis accusatores. 
Damnabuntur qui ? — Nec judices nec accusatores Luther- 
anorum, sed Lutherani, accusatores Papistarum. 

LECTORI. 

Concilium quo turba erit Romana Tridenti 
Vitendum credas omnibus esse piis. 

Non 



268 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



which the following Easter was fixed upon as the day for 
the resumption of the council, and on the 30th a breve to 
the same effect was sent to the prelates and bishops of 
France. 1 

This document had been prepared with great care, and 
great pains had been taken to avoid expressions calculated 
to give offence. But although no express mention was made 
of the " continuation " of the council, it was evident that no 
interference would be attempted with the decrees previously 
p>assed, and that little could therefore be hoped for calculated 
to conciliate the Protestants. Before, however, the bull 
could reach France, Francis II. died, and was suceeeded by 
Charles IX., then only eleven years old. u By the advice of 
his parliament, the young king ordered all the prelates of the 
kingdom to get ready to set out for Trent. x 

The activity of the pontiff was unsparing in its efforts for 

Kon est Catholicum, nee Christi mente coactum, 
Factio contracta est nomine, papa, tuo. 

Qusequaro. sit pia, quam sit sancta et libera et sequa, 
Hand opns est inonitis, res enim ipsa docet. 
Among other important documents, calculated to show the danger of 
Protestants visiting the council, Vergerius brings forward the decree of 
the Council of Constance, Sess. 19 : — "Quod non obstantibus salvis-con- 
ductibus imperatoris, regum, etc., possit per judicem competentem de 
hseretica pravitate inquiri :" "An index of the heretics whose works had 
been proscribed, the oaths taken by bishops in council," &c. 

" In 1556, the same writer puts forth, anonymously, a work of 
a good deal of force and pungency, under the title, e Actiones duse 
Secretarii Pontificii : quarum altera disputat : An Papa Paulus IV. 
debeat cogitare de instaurando Concilio Tridentino (magna enim 
est spes de pace) : altera vero, an vi et amiis possit deinde im- 
perare Protestantibus ipsius concilii decreta.' Under his fictitious 
character the author impresses the hopelessness of the renewal of the 
council for the end in view, and has ably stated the artful and ensnaring 
variation of the safe-conduct offered to the Protestants from that which 
they required at Basle. And the hopes from force, in the second action, 
he proves to be veiy unfounded." — Mendham, p. 168, note. They will 
be found in Goldasti, Politica Imperialia, p. 1232, sqq. together with 
several other useful documents connected with the history of the time. 
See also a letter of Vergerius's, "Al magnifico Signor Nicolo Guizzardo, 
del Decreto fatto in Trento d' intorno alia communione." The preface 
bears date 1562. 
1 Pallav. xiv. 17. 

u The appointment of the king of Navarre as guardian to the new 
king was highly favourable to the cause of the new religion. — Sarpi, 
p. 355. s Mendham, p. 168. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



269 



restoring the council to the footing, which alone could render 
it an efficient barrier against the fast-spreading growth of 
popular feeling. Gianfrancesco, Commendone, and Delfino 
were despatched as nuncios, to invite the German princes to 
appear either in person, or by proxy, and to volunteer a 
safe-conduct of the most liberal terms that could possibly be 
granted. But the princes assembled at the diet of Naumberg, 
although engaged in various dissensions respecting the Augs- 
burg Confession, were stern and resolute in their determina- 
tion to insist on the word of God as the only test by which 
the council should be controlled, and in requiring the liberty 
of free discussion for their own prelates.? Commendone next 
intended to go to the king of Denmark j but met with a most 
ungracious answer from Frederick, who alleged " that neither 
himself nor his father had ever had anything to do with 
the pope, and that he had no desire to receive his em- 
bassy." 2 While he continued his visits to the electors of 
Brandenburg, the dukes of Brunswick and Cleves, the arch- 
bishop of Cologne, and other prelates and princes, the 
abbot Martinenghi had been previously sent to the queen of 
England, but he met with a most discouraging lesson from 
Elizabeth. 

Nevertheless, although the success by no means equalled 
what might have been expected, the activity of the pontiff 
was going far to produce a reaction highly unfavourable to 
Protestants. Writers of the Protestant school are too apt 
to undervalue the efforts of Pius IV., and to exult too much 
in the security which the reformed tenets had now obtained. 
Granting that a large number, even in France, had openly 
and without qualification denied the papal right to preside 
at the council, there were still a larger number who would 
have been satisfied with smaller concessions. Human nature 
has a certain dread of change under peculiar circumstances, 
which is oftentimes the safest guardian of existing abuses. 
Prejudices, handed down from father to son, will outweigh, 
or at least deaden the force of, conviction ; and thus it 

y The particulars of the Naumberg Diet, which are far too long for 
my limits, will be found in Sarpi, v. 63, sqq. ed. Courayer ; Pallav. xv. 2. 

' L Sarpi, p. 358 (Latin ed.). " Che ne il padre suo Christiano, ne egli 
haveva havuto a trattar cosa alcuna col Pont, et pero non si curava di 
ricever da lui ambasciata" (ed. Lond.) 1619. 



270 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



is found that, while a few eager and enthusiastic spirits are 
ever striving to arouse humanity to a consciousness of its 
wrongs, and sometimes seeking to arouse its worst passions in 
its own defence, the safe and steady sluggishness, which forms 
the grand element of conservatism, checks the worldly vehicle 
in its onward course, and makes it shrink from the very reform 
for which it would lately have sacrificed life itself. 

Again, the strongest unity in a common cause creates dis- 
sensions on minor matters in proportion as the question of 
greater ones is excluded. Eomanism has had, and has, its 
schisms, more or less avowed, but seldom compromising its 
fundamental principle, the papacy. With Protestantism it 
was far different at the time in question. Relieved from a 
mighty weight of traditional observance, the princes of the 
reformed states were unanimous in their dissent from Rome, 
but they differed as to the extent of that dissent. Rome 
might still hope to recall many a wavering disciple, to pur- 
chase back many a doubtful alien j while Protestants felt more 
certain as to where they disagreed with Rome, than where 
they agreed with one another. But if we consider the 
manifold varieties of dissent in the present day, it will seem 
little strange that the German diets should have been in- 
sufficient to appease those doubts and fears, which many 
must have felt in parting from what had hitherto been their 
mother church, and casting themselves upon the chances of 
a religious war maintained against dishonest and prejudiced 
enemies, and with uncertain partisans. Even divines began 
to be shaken in their convictions ; and Delfino, who had been 
actively engaged in Upper Germany, entertained some hopes 
of bringing back to the church reformers of no less im- 
portance than Sturmius, Zanchius, and Yergerius. 3 

CHAPTER XLYII. 

Proceedings previous to tlte Seventeenth Session. 

I am forced, for the sake of brevity, to pass over the many 
interesting negotiations between the court of Rome and 
almost the whole of Christendom previous to the resumption 

a Paliav. xv. 10. This conduct on the part of Vergerius scarcely seems to 
tally with the publication of the tracts above mentioned, although it is cer- 
tainly corroborated by the epistles to Borromeo, quoted by Paliav. p. 223. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



271 



of the council, and to hasten back to the direct thread of 
the internal history of the synod itself. 

Ranke's opinions as to the change of character assumed by 
the latter proceedings of this council have been already 
stated at length; and it will be seen, that the measures passed 
at the latter sessions were rather calculated to complete the 
yet imperfect scheme of Roman Catholic dogmatism, than to 
relax aught in favour of Protestantism. Had Pius IV. 
begun the council, there is reason to believe that its results 
would have been more extended both in their aims and their 
influence. But as matters really stood, he appeared late in 
the field, the supporter of defined abuses, and the champion 
of a mistaken theory, which had rent Christendom asunder. 
Perhaps the consciousness how insufficient its decrees would 
be for the reconciliation of the Protestants contributed ta 
increase the desire of the pontiff to bring the council to 
a termination, especially as, until its views were fully de- 
clared upon all points, it would be scarcely possible to use* 
stronger measures for the suppression of the reformed party 
— till Pome had told her whole story, she could hardly 
appeal sword in hand, as the punisher of those who dared 
doubt her assertions. 

On the 14th of February, 1561, Gescole Gonzaga, cardinal 
of Mantua, and Cardinal Puteo b were appointed legates to 
the council ; and on the 10th of March, Seripando, Simonetta, 
and Stanislaus Hosius were associated with them as assist- 
ants. They were empowered to preside, direct, and manage, 
in the name and on behalf of the pontiff, and were also 
authorized to grant indulgences to all who should accompany 
them on their entry into Trent, and offer up prayers for the 
success of the council. 

On the 17th of March the legatine cross was given to 
Seripando, and he, accompanied by Gonzaga, set out for 
Trent, and arrived there on the 16 th of April. Despite, 
however, the exertions of the pontiff to rally the scattered 
forces of the council, only nine prelates had as yet assembled. 

b He seems to have been taken ill, and his place supplied by Seripando. 
Cf. Mendham, p. 170, note. But the authority of all five was equal. 
c Compare the following passage of Paleotto : — 

"Pontifex nihil omnino praetermittens sibi in animum inducit, ut 
concilium hoc ejus authoritate celebrandum, magnos et praeclaros, 



272 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Even the Italian prelates had hung back, either through a 
wish to obtain the emperor's consent before taking any pro- 
ceedings, or, as Sarpi thinks, because they doubted the 
sincerity of the pope's conduct, and believed that he had 
only chosen the council as the least of the evils at present 
impending. d In a short time, however, other bishops began 
to arrive from Venice and the other Italian states, from 
Portugal, England, and other places. Hosius reached Trent 
privately on the 20th of August, and Simonetta at the begin- 
ning of December. This great canonist, who had arrived at 
the rank of cardinal after serving every office in the Roman 
court, was accompanied by Marco Sitico Altemps, the pope's 
nephew. Although, when he started, the pontiff had en- 
joined every possible despatch in bringing the council to an 
end, he thought fit to retract his orders, and to desire the 
legate to await further directions. Meanwhile, the number 
of prelates had increased to ninety-two. 

I must briefly remind the reader of two events which 
occurred about this time; viz. the colloquy of Poissy, e and 
the victory gained by the Protestants in the valleys of Pied- 
mont. While I regret my narrow limits, which prevent 
anything like description or comment, I can but observe 
that the state of France was daily becoming more trouble- 
some to the pontiff. The desire for national councils was 
fast sapping the feelings of those, who had once looked upon 

quantum in eo erit, progressus faciat. Imprimis, quamplures nuncios, 
eosdemque praestantes vario ex ordine viros in diversas provincias ac 
regna distribuit, qui synodum hanc in civitate Tridentina cogendam 
denuncient. Diplomata in Lusitaniam, Hispaniam, Galliam, Angliam, 
Germaniam superiorem et inferiorem, Helvetios, Boemiam, Ungheriam, 
Poloniam, Prussiam et Moscoviam, Dalmatian^ Illiricum, Armeniam, 
Graeciam, per hos mittit ; nullumque Europae aliarumve regionum 
angulum jubet praeteriri, ubi Christiani nominis vestigium aliquod 
super sit, cui non haec cecumenica synodus celebranda significetur. 
Inde legatos quinque cardinales de Latere delegit qui huic concilio 
nomine Sanctitatis suae, sint praefuturi ; Jacobum tituli S. Mariae in via 
puteum Herculem, S. Marias novae Mantuanum, Hyeronimum Sanctas 
Susannas Seripandum, Stanislaum Hosium S. Laurentii in Panisperna 
Warmiens., Ludovicum S. Ciriaci in Thermus Simonettam, viros prae- 
claros, ac suo quemque vitae genere atque officio maxime insignes." 
— Paleotti Acta, pp. 15, 16, ed. Mendham. 
d Sarpi, p. 376. 

e This will be found at great length in Sarpi, p. 376, sqq. Other 
authorities are mentioned by Mendham, p. 169, sqq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



273 



a general synod as the grand remedy for the troubles of 
Christendom, and the equipoise of the leading factions of 
Europe, whether political or religious, almost defied the cal- 
culations even of so subtle a diplomatist as Pius IV. But 
he fortunately was a lover of peace, and the quiet and 
temperate deportment which he adopted in all his transac- 
tions, if it failed to conciliate, at least gave little excuse for 
personal ill-feeling. " It was his conviction, and he declared 
it openly, that the power of the pope could not subsist 
without the authority of sovereigns. " f 

CHAPTER XL VIII. 

Tlie Seventeenth Session. 

The condition of affairs in France was little favourable to 
the views of the pope ; and, while a large number of the 
Italian bishops were assembled at Trent, France was still 
unrepresented, and Poland dissatisfied at the pontiff's refusal 
to allow votes by proxy, s A friendly letter, however, from 
Philip, king of Spain, in which he denounced the conduct of 
the French, and avowed his determination to aid the pontiff 
in carrying out his views to the utmost, reassured the feelings 
of the court of Rome, and the pope determined to allow of 
no further delay. 

The prelates had been engaged in drawing up a list of 
books to be condemned as heretical, and the legates at first 
felt inclined to proceed with the prohibition of such writings. 
Upon second thoughts, however, they saw that such a 
measure would be impolitic, if not dangerous, as it would be 
to close with their own hands the doors of the council against 
the authors. 11 With equal good sense, and with a moderation 
which their predecessors might have advantageously displayed, 
the legates recommended the pontiff to leave the choice of 
subjects of discussion to the prelates assembled, feeling per- 
suaded that they would take up the proceedings at the 
point where they had been left off by the late council, and 
that such a liberty would remove the supposition that the 
council was under the almost immediate sway of the pontiff. 



f Ranke, p. 84. s Sarpi, p. 376, sq. 

h Waterworth, p. cliii. 
T 



274: 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



It is easy to perceive that this concession, although in reality 
of little meaning or importance, was at least popular in 
appearance. 

After some childish wrangling about precedence, curiously 
inconsistent with the conduct of a Christian assembly, a 
more violent dispute arose respecting the wording of the 
papal bull. Guerrero, archbishop of Granada, 1 and most of 
the Spanish prelates, objected to the ambiguous phrase 
" celebration of the council," and demanded that it should be 
declared to be a "continuation." Philip of Spain had already 
introduced some of the Tridentine regulations into active 
working, and to call the council a new one would seem to 
nullify his own measures. The rest of the prelates held that 
such a measure would totally prevent the Germans, English, 
and other doubtful nations from sending their representatives, 
as they had hitherto looked upon the council as not 'free : 
" and if the absentees who might be induced to attend in 
future were considered as bound by proceedings in which 
they had no part, inconveniences would result, which could 
only be obviated by making the council about to be con- 
vened, really as well as nominally, a new one." k 

It was answered, that the pope's bull was worded under 
the certain supposition that they would begin with the 
measures left undetermined in the reign of Julius III., but 
that an express declaration to that effect had been avoided 
as being likely to give unnecessary offence to the Protestants, 
and defeat the very object proposed. This reply satisfied the 
Spaniards, but not until they had obtained a promise that 
the words of the decree about to be promulgated should be 
free from anything like an express declaration of the indie- 
tion of a new council. 

This war of words having been decided, and both parties 
having satisfied each other with a quibble, 1 a general con- 
gregation was held on the 15th of January. As a large 
number of prelates had now assembled, they held the sit- 

1 Paleotto, p. 22. k Mendham, p. 174. 

1 Cf. the words of the Decree : " That the sacred, oecumenical, 

and general Council of Trent be, all manner of suspension 

removed, celebrated from this day." While the word " suspension" 
presupposes previous sittings, the word " celebrated" rather gives the 
idea of a new assembly. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



275 



ting in the temple of Santa Maria Maggiore. The seats 
were arranged in the form of a theatre, to hold about two 
hundred and fifty persons, with a space left capable of re- 
ceiving a larger company if required. When the legates 
appeared, they were preceded by a silver cross, whicfy was 
placed in the centre, so as to be visible to all. They sat in 
front, in a place elevated, and richly carpeted and deco- 
rated, the cardinal of Mantua in the middle, the other 
legates on either side, as well as Madrucci. At their right 
hand, but on less-elevated seats, the ecclesiastical ambassadors 
were placed, the lay ones on the left. The prelates took 
their places according to the priority of their presentation — 
a measure winch the frequent bickerings on the subject of 
precedence had rendered necessary. m 

After the invocation of the Holy Spirit, and a solemn 
prayer had been pronounced by the cardinal of Mantua, the 
congregation commenced. To continue in the words of 
Paleotto — " The plan pursued was to begin generally with 
matters of faith, and, as had hitherto been the practice, go 
through the seven sacraments. Certain articles or problems 
were proposed to the minor theologians, eminent for pro- 
fessional acquirements. Their labours were examined by 
select fathers, and reduced to the form of a canon or decree, 
which was submitted to the more mature counsel of a general 
congregation. Decrees concerning manners or morals were 
not put into the hands of the theologians, but the legates 
took them in a great measure into their own, availing them- 
selves of a consultation with certain ambassadors or prelates, 
to be finally inspected by themselves, with the tacit under- 
standing, that the graver points should first reach the ears 
of their most holy lord, who would signify by letter what 
was best to be done ; and the decrees of reformation would 
be constructed accordingly ; which decrees they submitted 
to the deliberation of the synod, without any mention of the 
opinion of the pontiff ; and they were received, or rejected, 
or modified by the fathers, as they saw fit. In all this," 
proceeds our author, apologetically, " there was nothing which 
detracted from the liberty of the fathers, since the subject 

m Paleott. p. 24, sq. His whole account is most valuable and in- 
teresting. 

T 2 



276 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



underwent various progressive examinations, and was elabo- 
rated and polished by such operations, so as to become fit 
for the adoption of the session ; before which, they did not 
obtain conciliar force." n 

The chief feature to be noticed in the proceedings of the 
congregation of the next day, was the dispute respecting the 
power of the legates. The bishops of Granada, Orenge, 
Leon, and Almeria, protested against the clause in the decree, 
"those matters be treated of therein, which, the legates and 
presidents ijroposing, shall appear fitting and proper." 
Although the legates had exercised and abused this pre- 
rogative throughout the council, so totally subservient had 
been the character of its proceedings, that few would have 
ventured to question the right of the legates to do anything. 
Even a Crescenzio had been tolerated. On the present 
occasion, it was alleged that the phrase was new ; that it had 
been never used in any previous council, and was calculated 
to restrain the liberty of proposing any subject for discussion. 
Although the prelates had in reality never enjoyed this liberty, 
they did not like an express denial ; and they lamented the 
shadow of what they had never possessed in substance. 

The bishop of Telesio, as secretary of the council, endea- 
voured to explain away the phrase, as not being intended to 
restrain the free discussion of matters relating to the increase 
of the Catholic faith, and added, that before the decree was 
read publicly, it was privately shown to the archbishop and 
others, and that it was now too late to alter it. Guerrero 
was still dissatisfied, and with reason. In the copy sent to 
him, the objectionable clause had been omitted, and he had 
failed to perceive it when it was publicly read in the congre- 
gation. The dishonesty of the transaction is too obvious to 
need any comment. 

At an early hour in the morning, the cardinals and prelates 
assembled at the church of St. Peter, and having put on 
their pontifical robes, proceeded in great state to the cathedral 
of St. Yigilius. This ceremony was observed, with the view 
of giving greater solemnity to the reopening of the council, 
but on subsequent occasions they went direct to the cathedral. 
Having taken their seats according to prescribed order, and 



n Mendham, p. 175, sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



celebrated the customary services with great magnificence, 
the bishop of Telesio read the bull for the celebration of the 
council, dated November 29th, 1560. The officiating prelate, 
the archbishop of Reggio, then received the decrees from the 
legates kneeling, and then read them from a pulpit, adding : 
" Most illustrious and reverend lords, and most noble fathers, 
do these things please you V° 

The cardinals having replied in the affirmative, the secre- 
tary and notaries proceeded to record the votes of the fathers, 
as given either orally or in writing, as well as to state the 
votes of those who were absent through illness, but had been 
present at the preparation of the decrees. All agreed to the 
decrees except the four Spanish bishops above mentioned. 
Those of Granada and Orenze protested against the " pro- 
posing" clause; whilst the bishops of Leon and Almeria 
agreed to them, provided the legates duly propose such 
things as the council shall judge worthy to be proposed. 

The first legate then declared the decree to be approved of 
by all, save only by some who would desire some alteration. 

The second decree, appointing the 26th of February for 
the next session, being unanimously passed, was declared "to 
be approved without any dissent ; for which we render thanks 
to God."P 

The promoter of the council then denounced the contumacy 
of the absent prelates; and requested the protonotaries and 
notaries then present to draw up a record of the transactions 
of the session. After this the " Te Deum " was sung, and 
the assembly broke up with the customary benediction. 

Great was the accession gained by the legates in thus 
obtaining the formal recognition of a right which they had 
all along exercised, and vain must be any attempt to repre- 
sent it as a trifling matter. Pius IV. had clenched an 
advantage which he well knew how to employ ; popery had 
made one firm step towards retaining [the ground it had 
assumed, and the Council of Trent had lost the formal 
possession of a liberty which it had never substantially 
possessed.^ 

Cf, Decrees and Canons, I. c. p Paleotto, p. 36. 

1 Pallav. xv. 16. 



278 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

Preliminaries to the Eighteenth Session. TJie Index Expurgatorias. 

Soon after the conclusion of the last session, a general 
congregation was held, at which the cardinal of Mantua con- 
gratulated the assembled prelates on the result of what had 
already been done, and proposed to proceed gradually to 
greater things. He then called upon the secretary to read 
a breve sent by the pope to the following effect : that, as a 
matter most important to purity of faith, the books written 
by various authors, since the rise of the recent heresies, 
should be examined, as also the censures of such books 
written by Catholics, and that the determination of the 
synod should be published concerning them ; that, in order 
to judge rightly of them, all concerned in such books should 
be invited to the synod, lest they should allege that they 
were condemned unheard, and that a most ample safe-conduct, 
and every promise of kindness, should be held out as a 
means of drawing the Protestants back to the Church. r 

A more interesting question than the liberty of the press s 
could hardly be j)roposed for discussion; and when we con- 
sider the wonderful weight which the printed books of the 
early reformers carried with them, and how instrumental 
their writings were to the grand secession from Romanism, 
we may almost wonder that some restrictions were not made 
at a much earlier period. But a great step had already been 
taken in fettering the reader to the Latin Vulgate, and in 
restricting the writing and publishing of commentaries on 
Scripture. That measure was a conservative one, and designed 
for the retention of Romanists within the pale of the Church ; 
the present one was aggressive, and had reference to the 
Reformists only. 

On the 30th of January, a general congregation was held, 
in which, after an elegant oration delivered by the first 
legate, the papal breve was read, and a long discussion 

r Paleotto, p. 38. Mendham has omitted this last particular. 

8 See a long dissertation on the gradual prohibition of the reading of 
certain books, in Sarpi, vi. 5 (ed. Courayer), and Mendham's Literary 
Policy of the Church of Eome, pp. 39-52, where he has given a most 
excellent account of the " Index" of Paul IV. 



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279 



ensued, of which we must content ourselves with a brief 
abstract. 1 

The patriarch of Jerusalem recommended that a new index 
of works to be prohibited should be undertaken, and his 
opinion was followed by the coadjutor bishop of Aquileia, 
who advised that the index of Paul IV. should be revised, 
corrected, and augmented ; and who wished that those who 
had written light and voluptuous compositions in their early- 
youth, should not be treated on the same level as those who 
had filled their pages with impious heresies. The bishop of 
Braga advised that the work should be intrusted to the 
universities. The bishop of Ariano thought that, difficult as 
the work seemed, there was no reason to despair of the 
probability of successfully accomplishing it, and recommended 
that those who had drawn up the index above mentioned 
should be consulted on the subject j that the pope should be 
informed of their proceedings, and his assistance solicited ; 
moreover, he thought that a public safe-conduct ought to 
be given to the Protestants, but that the term "heretic" 
should be avoided at present as much as possible, and kind 
and conciliatory terms adopted. 

The bishop of Badajoz thought that the synod itself 
would perform the work more easily, and proposed that the 
index should contain five classes of books : 1. Those of here- 
tics, to be burned ; 2. Anonymous publications to be allowed, 
if of a harmless character ; 3. Of those in which errors are 
intermingled, to be expurgated ; 4. Of vernacular versions of 
the Gospel and the common prayers, which, if executed 
faithfully (i. e. according to Catholic views), were to be per- 
mitted, if not, interdicted ; 5. Of books on lots, divination, 
and magic, which were to be condemned. 

After a few rather unmeaning harangues from the bishops 
of Modena, Campagna, and Cremona, in which moderation 
towards heretics is more than usually conspicuous, the general 
of the Augustinians delivered a speech, which is interesting, 
from the historical information conveyed by him, that 
he was one of the persons concerned in drawing up the 
index of Paul TV. He states that the books written by 

1 Paleotto, who is henceforth our best authority, remarks that the 
discussion was so lengthy that it was impossible to report all the 
speeches. 



280 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



heretics were brought out of the Vatican library, and dis- 
persed among the various religious orders, by whom they were 
accurately examined ; that the similar indexes of other 
countries were also consulted, and their own drawn up after 
the comparison. Hence he thought that the labours of the 
present synod would be considerably lightened, while the 
confessed deficiency of the preceding index would be amended 
and supplied. 

It would be endless to state the various opinions and 
modifications of opinion to which this discussion gave rise ; 
but the taste for preserving abuse was vehemently advocated 
by the bishop of Paphos, who, " with the authority of age, 
admonished the fathers to take care how they proceeded in 
an affair of such importance, and weigh the matter well 
before they superseded and virtually condemned, by their 
new index, that which had been constructed with so much 
pains and ability under the preceding pontificate ; lest, by 
their example, they should encourage and justify posterity in 
treating their authority with as little respect as they had 
shown towards that of their predecessors." 11 

It was also debated whether the authors of the books 
should be cited to attend, and some wished that even the 
safe-conduct should be only given to heretics upon condition 
that they came for the purpose of acknowledging their errors. 
The Spanish prelates were averse to a general safe-conduct 
being offered, because they dreaded that it would include 
those against whom the Inquisition, in their own country, 
had commenced proceedings.* 1 Should this take place, they 
alleged that nothing more dangerous could happen to their 
king, who had hitherto, by means of that sacred tribunal, 
kept the whole kingdom in their duty, and in the Catholic 
faith ; that even then there were in the council four persons 
who had been members of the holy office for several years, 
and that they affirmed that great danger would accrue to 

u Mendham, p. 183, who adds in a note : "If this good father had 
read the strictures of P. P. Yergini upon this Index, in the republica- 
tion of it with annotations by the reputed apostate, he would probably 
have been, at least he would have had reason to be, more measured in 
his praise." 

x Our authority is Paleotto, p. 65. The dishonesty of Pallavicino is: 
well shown and censured by Mendham, p. 190. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



281 



Catholicism, if this door should be opened, by which any one 
would be able to evade that most holy tribunal. 

The legates were in great difficulty, not only on account 
of the Inquisition in Spain, but at Home likewise — the latter 
having been most earnestly intrusted to their care. Hence 
much time was spent in attempts to draw up such a document 
as should give a satisfactory form of security, be compatible 
with the dignity of the synod, and not detract from the in- 
famous prerogative of the Inquisition. y 

Meanwhile, three ambassadors from the emperor arrived. 
After some debating as to the form of receiving them, they 
presented the following articles to the council, on the 13th of 
February, 1562. In these they alleged that the Protestants 
were seeking for subterfuges to enable them to shirk attend- 
ance at the council, and that it was therefore expedient to 
avoid the mention of the " continuation " of the council, as 
that would give them an excuse for their absence. They also 
recommended that the next session should be prorogued, in 
order to gain time. But with respect to the index of con- 
demned books, they thought it advisable that the Confession 
of Augsburg should not be condemned at first, as the most 
dangerous consequences might ensue. They concluded with 
recommending gentle and conciliatory measures, and advising 
that the decrees now under discussion should not be allowed 
to transpire until approved and ratified by the session. 

The legates delivered a form of assent to all these articles on 
the 1 8th. Mendham well observes : " The wily and instructed 
authors seize the expression respecting the non-condemnation 
of the Augsburg Confession at first, which they repeat, in 
order to nail ; and in mentioning the safe-conduct, although 
they do not avoid the expression most ample, they artfully 
exchange that of such as they desired with that of as was 
formerly sought by and conceded to them"' 1 

The legates had not, however, omitted the question of 
prohibiting books. With a remarkable complaisance for the 
papal power, the synod had determined to leave the appoint- 

y Compare Sarpi, p. 386. It seems probable that this question was 
not raised till one of the following synods ; but the position it occupies 
in Paleotto scarcely justifies me in departing from Father Paul's arrange- 
ment. Mendham places it on the 24th. 

z P. 184, from Le Plat, v. 35. 



282 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ment of a committee of examiners to the first legate. He 
accordingly nominated four of the fathers, who elected four- 
teen more to assist them in the task. a But before they 
could even read the books they were to condemn, they were 
obliged to be furnished by the pope with a license to do so. 
Such was Tridentine freedom ! 

CHAPTER L. 

Fwrther Congregations. T7ie Eighteenth Session. 

On the 17th of February, the decree which had been 
framed by the select committee was presented to the legates, 
by whom they were warned not to let it transpire, as the 
exposure of such a document, in an imfinished state, and as 
yet destitute'of conciliar sanction, might cause inconvenience. 
So anxious were they on this head, that the secretary was 
ordered to subjoin this warning, when he read the decree. It 
was to the following effect : — " That whereas at this time bad 
books had increased to a degree which seemed likely to admit 
no bounds ; and many censures had been published by Catholic 
writers, especially at Rome, in which the objectionable parts 
of such books had, like the hurtful tares, been collected and 
bound in bundles ; but that, whereas their attempts have 
proved insufficient to remedy the evil, it was now decreed, 
that a select committee should examine both the books and 
the censures afore-mentioned, and lay the result before the 
holy synod ; that assistance in the work of investigation 
would be thankfully accepted ; and that it was the earnest 
desire and entreaty of the council that those who had 
separated from its communion should return/' 

Agreeably to an announcement made on the same day, the 
fathers reassembled on the 20th. The legates, dreading the 
publicity which would result from the nature of the subject, 
thought fit to limit the discussion to one day, however late 
the meeting might be protracted, trusting that the approach 
of midnight would cut short even the most prosy speakers. 

a The following were the fathers employed : the archbishops of 
Prague, the patriarch of Venice, the archbishops of Naxos, Kagusa, 
Sorrente, and Braga ; the bishops of Cava (junior), Modena, Ariano, 
Sinigagli, Oviedo, Herda, Brescia, Cremona, and Yerona ; besides an. 
abbot, and the generals of the orders de Observantia et Augustini. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



283 



The experiment succeeded excellently ; many of the lower 
grade of fathers, foreseeing that they would get no chance of 
speaking, and who had therefore come indifferently prepared, 
fell in with the opinions of others; while another party 
delivered to the secretary written statements of their opinions; 
others contented themselves with the simple form " placet." 

Following Mendham's example, I shall content myself with 
an abstract of the three principal speeches reported by 
Paleotto. 

Cardinal Madrucci, while declaring his approbation of the 
general drawing up of the decree, at the same time freely 
expressed his objections to some of the expressions used 
therein, and especially to the phrase bad books, for which 
he recommended suspected, as the first epithet had some- 
thing in it tending to prejudice. He also found fault with 
the phrase " who hold communion with us," as not being 
sufficiently precise, and thought that the public faith should 
be pledged without any conditional limitation respecting a 
conformity to the decrees of the council. 

The archbishop of Granada was more severe in his criti- 
cisms, and minutely sifted the wording of the document. 
He magnified the difficulty of the task, and thought that 
the council had enough to do already, without taking upon 
themselves the composition of a fresh index. Nor did he 
let the old question of the "representing" clause rest. He 
denied that the words in any way derogated from the 
authority of the pontiff, and alleged that the objection on 
the grounds of their omission in other councils, was partly 
untrue, and partly trivial. He was vehemently opposed by 
the bishop of Rossano, whose speech gave so much satisfac- 
tion, that he was subsequently employed, with the assistance 
of the auditor of the Rota, to reconstruct or amend the 
original decree. 

As to the remaining speeches, they generally agreed in 
recommending pacific and temperate measures, and advised 
that those, who dissented from the Roman communion, should 
be kindly invited ; and that if they came, showing a detestation 
of their errors, and a willingness to submit themselves to the 
council, a full pardon should be offered them. As to the 
censure of books, the verbal alterations proposed by Madrucci 
were readily adopted, and it was determined that the invita- 



284 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



tion of the heretics to the council should precede any measures 
taken against their writings. 

On the morning of February 26th, 1562, the fathers 
assembled with the customaiy ceremonies. The patriarch 
of J erusalem celebrated mass ; the promoter of the council 
accused the absent bishops of contumacy, and the proceedings 
were just commenced, when they were stopped short by an 
absurd dispute respecting precedency, between the ambassa- 
dors of the kings of Portugal and Hungary. At length the 
malcontents were pacified, and the pontifical breves relative 
to the index, the customary indulgences, and precedence, 
were read. The two decrees, 15 which had been modified 
according to the suggestions of Madrucci, were then pro- 
mulgated. The bishop of Granada again renewed his objec- 
tion to the omission of the " representing " clause, but the 
second decree, fixing the next session for the 14th of May, 
was approved by all, but with considerable qualification ; 
many wishing that an assurance should be given that the 
intermediate time would be spent in business calculated to 
avail the object of the council, and that a clause to that 
effect should be inserted in the published document. 

Mendham, to whose excellent work on the literary policy 
of the Roman Church I have already referred my readers, 
acutely points out the tact exhibited by the council in the 
transactions of this session. "The council," he observes, 
" as will be seen by the sequel, did nothing in this business ; 
but overcome, or overawed, by the difficulty, delicacy, and 
responsibility of the undertaking, cast the whole burden, or 
bestowed the whole honour, upon the pontiff, whom they 
authorized to carry their misconceived plan into execution. 
So far the fathers of the council gave it, when it should 
come to a birth, their anticipatory sanction and adoption." 

CHAPTER IX 

Opinions respecting the Decrees. Safe-conduct. 

The feeling excited by the publication of these decrees was 
very various. Some wondered how the synod could invite 

b See p. 123, sq. of my edition. 

c Memoirs, p. 193. His note also contains important and interesting 
information. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



285 



those interested in the transactions of the council, when the 
subjects to be treated of were unknown. Again, how could 
any one conjecture what proposals the legates would make 
in the synod, seeing they themselves knew not, until they 
had received advice from Rome ? Furthermore, how were 
those most interested in the non-condemnation of a book to 
know whether any proceedings are being taken against that 
very book 1 In fact, the general terms of the citation, and 
the uncertainty of the cause, might with reason send people 
to Trent, seeing there was scarcely any one whose interests 
may not be concerned in its transactions. The general 
opinion seemed to be, that while the decree avowedly invited 
the Protestants to the council, its real effect would be to 
keep them away. d 

At the request of the emperor, the discussion of doctrinal 
matters had been postponed, and four of the fathers were 
busily employed in framing the safe-conduct. The task was 
a delicate and troublesome one. While the interests of the 
Inquisition and the dignity of the synod had to be supported, 
care was required lest any unpopular expressions should still 
further offend the Protestants. Much discussion arose. 
Thomas Stella, a Dominican, objected to the safe-conduct 
altogether ; alleging that the heretics were crabs, vipers, and. 
foxes, e of whom it would be well to beware, and whose pre- 
sence at the council could only do mischief. The archbishop 
of Granada, on the contrary, while acknowledging the de- 
pravity of the heretics, expressed his hope that the council 
would be to them as a salutary laver, wherein the foxes 
would wash away their treacheries and the vipers their venoms. 
He recommended that the safe-conduct should be worded in 
precisely the same terms as that granted to the Germans in 
the fifteenth session, with the addition of a clause extending 
the privilege to other nations. 

The archbishop of Prague, one of the imperial ambassadors, 
was for confining the privilege to a certain number, and that 
its duration should be understood to extend only to a definite 
period. This was taken up by a Venetian nobleman, as 
implying an apprehension that the heretics would come in 

d Sarpi, ii. 165, with Courayer's note. 

, e Paleotto, p. 77 : " Grli eretici esser, volpi le quali tradiscono, e 
vipere le quali awelenano." Pallav. xvi. 1, 2. 



286 



THE HISTOEY OF THE 



herds/ and possibly cause a disturbance in the council. The 
archbishop replied, that his words had been misunderstood, 
and that he only wished the example of the Council of Basle 
to be followed. The cardinal of Mantua then ordered a copy 
of the safe-conduct to be furnished to all who desired it, and 
the meeting broke up. 

In a congregation on the 4th of March all subscribed to 
the form, as identical with what was before prepared, since 
any variation would excite suspicion, s An addition, how- 
ever, was made of the clause extending the safe-conduct to 
other nations. A doubt being raised as to the identity of 
the forms, the prelates answered that the first was printed ; 
an answer which did not perfectly satisfy. 

The bishop of Braga feared that the impunity promised 
might be supposed to include offences both committed and to 
be committed ; but it was answered, that matters of faith 
only were meant. The archbishop of Prague said, that he was 
almost afraid to speak, lest his words should be misconstrued 
as those of an ambassador. At this, the bishop of Justino- 
polis was much annoyed, and declared that he had never 
wished to exclude heretics from coming to the council, but 
that the safety of the Church required that they should be 
prevented from disseminating their poisonous influence whilst 
on their way. The cardinal of Mantua replied, that the 
safe-conduct was given with a view of enabling the heretics 
to treat with the council respecting their own affairs, not as 
a permission for them to preach about the streets. The 
bishop thought that this ought to be expressed in the decree ; 
but on being assured somewhat sharply that the synod had 
no idea of their permission being abused, he withdrew his 
objection. After some letters 11 of the duke of Bavaria, pre- 
sented by his councillor, had been answered, the assembly 
dispersed. The safe-conduct was published at Trent on the 
8th of March. 

f "Gregatim." Paleott. p. 78. * Mendham, p. 195. 

h They will be found in Paleotto, p. 82, sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



287 



CHAPTER LIL 

Preparation of the Decrees on Reformation, Arrivals at Trent. 

The legates now commissioned Seripando, whose enthu- 
siasm in the cause of reformation was well known, to draw 
up certain heads of reformation, a conduct to which they 
were urged by the imperial ambassadors. By the assistance 
of five prelates, whose names he concealed, he prepared a 
document embodying a scheme of reform. It was signed by 
nineteen capital letters, as follows : S. M.V. K K T. K P. I. 
K K E. T. K O. S. 1ST. I. S., which, as Paleotto thinks, served 
to denote that nineteen persons had been concerned in draw- 
ing up the petition. 1 

Simonetta, being deeply versed in the canon law, and in 
the practice of the Roman courts, was intrusted with the 
examination and remodelling of this draft ; but he felt 
unwilling to sustain the whole of the responsibility, and 
associated with him Castagna, Buonocompagno, Paleotto, and 
Castello, the promoter of the council. During their meet- 
ings, Seripando urged that the work of reformation, agreeably 
to the wish of the pontiff, should begin " with the Roman 
courts." But this measure was too unpopular to meet with 
the support it deserved, and he was compelled to restrict 
reformation, for the present, to such matters as affected the 
rest of the Christian world, and inflicted no detriment upon 
the papal courts. After various disputes on minor matters, 
twelve propositions, in the form of inquiry, were drawn up, 
in order to furnish free scope for discussion. They were as 
follows : — 

1. Let the fathers consider, what means can be adopted to 
the end that patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and all those 
who have the cure of souls, shall reside in their own churches, 
and shall not be absent from them, except for just, honest, 
and necessary causes, and such as may be for the benefit of 
the Catholic Church. 

2. It is expedient that no one be ordained to holy orders, 
except upon an actual title to a benefice, seeing it is well 
known that many frauds are committed through the fact 
that most persons are ordained on a patrimonial title. 

1 Paleotto, p. 85 j who is now our leading authority. 



•288 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



3. [Is it also expedient] that neither those who ordain, nor 
their officers and notaries, shall receive anything for the col- 
lation of any orders whatsoever ? 

4. Ought the same [bishops] to be permitted to establish 
daily distributions in those churches where either there are 
no distributions, or where they are so slight as to be neg- 
lected, out of the prebends to which no actual service is 
attached ? 

5. Ought all parishes which, by reason of their great size, 
require a greater number of priests, also to have a propor- 
tionately greater number of titles to be instituted by the 
ordinary? 

6. And such cures winch lack an adequate revenue for the 
maintenance of the priest, ought they to be remodelled in 
such a manner that out of several titles only one be formed 
hy the ordinary i 

7. Whereas there are many parish priests little fit for the 
office, and who, either by reason of ignorance or evil life, tend 
rather to destroy than to edify their flocks : and whereas 
they sometimes have curates worse than themselves, care 
must be taken that a remedy be provided for this mischief. 
Is it then expedient to give them a coadjutor, or fitting 
deputy ; a portion of the fruits being assigned at the pleasure 
of the ordinary ? 

8. Ought the ordinaries to be permitted to transfer to the 
mother churches such benefices or chapels as have fallen into 
ruin through age, and cannot be restored by reason of their 
poverty ? 

9. Ought it to be ordained that benefices in commendam, 
even those belonging to regulars, should be visited and cor- 
rected by the regulars 1 

10. Ought clandestine marriages to be declared hencefor- 
ward null and void ? 

11. What conditions are to be declared essential, for a 
marriage not to be considered as clandestine, but as con- 
tracted in the face of the Church ? 

12. Finally, serious consideration must be taken touching 
the reformation of the great abuses of the questors. 

After considerable discussion, the legates dreading the 
dissensions to which the first article would give rise, and 
deeming its tenor too broadly worded, resolved to postpone 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



289 



it, until the meeting of a congregation. The two articles on 
clandestine marriages were referred to the consideration of 
the theologians. 

On the 11th of March, a congregation was held, in which 
the legates proposed the postponement of the first question ; 
but the imperial ambassadors remonstrated with great 
earnestness, alleging that the remaining questions were too 
trivial to be worthy of so great a synod, if the first were 
omitted ; that the whole of the questions had already been 
communicated to the emperor, who would, if such omission 
were made, look upon himself as trifled with, and conceive 
an opinion that the council had no design of interfering with 
serious abuses, but only with those of little importance. The 
cardinal of Mantua, in an elegant speech, assented to their 
wish for its retention, and the secretary then read the twelve 
propositions above recited, and gave permission to all present 
to take copies of them. 

Proceedings, however, received some hinderance from the 
arrival of D' Avilos, marquis of Pescara, the Spanish ambassa- 
dor, on the 15th of March; of Giovanni Strozzi,from Florence, 
on the 18th ; and of Melchior Lussi, from the Catholic 
cantons of Switzerland. The customary squabbles about 
precedence, and complimentary messages tending to nothing 
at all, retarded and disturbed the discussions, which, from the 
magnitude of the abuses, and the conscientious energy of some 
of the disputants, were becoming really interesting. Moreover, 
considerable anxiety was felt as to the course likely to be 
pursued by the king of France, although this doubt was set 
at rest by the appearance of Lanssac, Du Ferrier, and Pibrac, 
as ambassadors from France, and, almost at the same time, by 
the arrival of Bellao, bishop of Paris, who came to Trent on 
the 14th of April, 1562. John Coloswarin, bishop of Chonad, 
and Dudiz, bishop of Tiniana, also arrived as representatives 
of Hungary; the latter of whom, after congratulating the 
assembly on the election of Pope Pius IV., and on the 
resumption of the council, set forth the zeal of the prelates 
of his own country in the cause of Catholicism, and the piety 
of the whole people, who had deserved well of all Christen- 
dom by their valiant resistance of the Turk, and of the 
bishops in withstanding the deceits of heretics. He concluded 
by expressing the regret of the Hungarian prelates at their 

u 



290 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



inability to be present at the council; but at the same time 
stated their confidence and acquiescence in the proceedings 
and decrees of the councils 

CHAPTER LIII. 

Disputes on the Subject of Residence. 

Meanwhile, the subject of residence was being discussed 
with a rancour and violence that nothing could equal. One 
party held that this matter contained the whole essence of 
reformation ; since, unless severe penalties were enforced 
against such offenders, nothing would hinder the bishops 
and other wealthier dignitaries of the Church from flocking to 
E-ome and other large cities, to enjoy their incomes and their 
leisure. But the archbishop of Granada, supported by many 
others, maintained that the most effectual remedy was that 
which had been proposed at the former meetings of the 
council, viz., the declaration of the divine right of residence. 
Violent and bitter were the discussions. " The Spaniards 
maintained the general principle that episcopal authority was 
not an emanation of the papal, as was alleged in Rome, but 
that its origin rested directly on divine appointment. This 
was striking at the very head of the whole system of the 
Church. The independence of the subordinate clerical 
authorities, whom the pope so sedulously kept under, would 
of necessity have followed in the train of this principle." 1 

Paleotto, the candid and careful reporter of the proceed- 
ings, expatiates in strong terms on the disgraceful display of 
spite and calumny with which each party strove to resist or 
terrify the other. Neither the legates, the prelates, nor any 
one, whose attainments and position gave him any importance, 
were free from the contagion; so that the very author of evil 111 
Mmself seemed to have poured out upon the council the 
venom of those calumnies, from which he derived his name. 
Well might Simonetta have dreaded the proposal of a ques- 
tion in which man's worst interests and worst passions were 
so closely concerned, and in which profit, ease, and indolence 
had so serious a prerogative at stake ! 

k Sarpi, p. 394 (Latin ed.). 1 Ranke, p. 85. < 

m "Ita ut videretur aliquando inter eos cacodsemon calumniarum 
Siarum [virus,] unde nomen traxit, effudisse" (p. 96, ed. Mendham). 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



291 



Simonetta, in this emergency, had sought the advice of the 
pope, who recommended the legates to avoid the controversy- 
respecting the right of residence, as being a matter of dogma, 
on which it had been agreed that no present discussion 
should take place, and advised them to confine themselves to 
matters of practical reform. Subsequently, however, he was 
of opinion that, should strong necessity demand it, they 
should follow what course appeared best. 

Things were in this state when the 7 th of April arrived, 
on which they were expected to deliver their opinions on the 
subject. Many days were spent in the discussion; but a brief 
abstract of the general arguments must satisfy us for the 
present. 

Paleotto reduces the arguments delivered on both sides to 
five heads. The first was the inconveniences attendant on 
non-residence, and the severity of the canons against it. 
Hereupon, many entered into the question of divine right, 
and supported their observations by various authorities. 
Some alleged that the doctrine was unknown before the 
times of Cardinal Caietan, and that he, after taking that 
view of the subject, had changed his opinion, having, at an 
advanced age, received a bishopric, at which he never re- 
sided. 11 The bishop of Ajazzo, with great good sense and 
moderation, declared that the dispute was frivolous, and that 
the question was, not whence the obligation of residence 
derived its origin, but how that obligation might be best 
enforced. 

A second party detailed the impediments to residence, 
which they reduced to the following thirteen heads : — the 
poverty of many churches ; the oppressions of the lay lords , 
the inhibitions ; the appeals to the E-oman court ; ex- 
emptions, privileges, and conservations granted to various 
persons ; the mare magnum religiosum ; reservations of 
fruits and collations, and pensions ; provisions ; pluralities, 
by which parishes are deprived of the care they require and 
are entitled to ; the withdrawal of cases from ordinaries 
upon light suspicion ; the pragmatic constitution and con- 
cordats ; the visitation of dioceses by others upon privilege, 

11 Sarpi, p. 396. 

The dissertations of Sarpi, vi. xii. sq. on the twelve propositions, 
are replete with curious arguments and interesting facts. 

u 2 



292 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



•without the consent of the ordinary ; the pilgrimages to the 
thresholds of the apostles. 

The third class contains twelve heads of punishment for 
non-residence ; the fourth, fifteen heads of reward for those 
who did their duty ; and the fifth, under thirteen heads, 
urges that the prelates should be compelled and bound to 
the fulfilment of their duty, and that this should be sanc- 
tioned by the chief pontiff. 

Although the state of our own Church renders every word 
on the non-residence-evil question of the utmost interest, it 
is impossible to enter into details of the many able and con- 
scientious arguments brought forward p on both sides. To 
recognise the divine right of residence would be to prove the 
exceptions made by the papal authority unscriptural, and to 
condemn all the concessions and privileges which had been so 
long cherished by the old system, to fall beneath the swoop 
of reform which threatened to carry all before it. 

So many were the limitations which many of the fathers 
required, as the conditions of their concurrence in either of 
the opinions touching the origin of the law of residence, and 
so varying and uncertain seemed the character of the votes 
given, that the legates resolved to bring the statement of 
opinions to a simple "placet " or H non placet" Madrucci and 
others resisted this proposal, and few congregations exhibited 
less confusion than the present one. If we consider how 
much wavering, quibbling, and mental reservation was spared 
by this " yes V or " no " system of voting, we must applaud 
the tact and policy of the legates. 

Some answered without hesitation ; but others were so 
embarrassed by the necessity of taking a decisive side, that 
it was extremely difficult to collect uhe votes. Eventually, 
however, seventy Q were recorded in favour of the divine 
right of residence, thirty-eight against it, while the remaining 
thirty-four were for first consulting the pope. As the last 
two lists, taken together, exceeded the first in numbers, it 
was resolved to refer the matter to the pontiff. Pius IV. was 
evidently placed in an awkward position. " For," as Water- 

p The arguments on both sides are summed up with masterly elegance 
and great fairness by Dr. Waterworth, p. clxv. sqq. 

<i See particulars in Waterworth, p. clxix and note. A list of the 
names of the voters will be found in Paleotto, p. 114, sqq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



293 



worth observes, "to decide against the solution of the question, 
would be open to the reproach of placing an obstacle in the 
way of that peculiar reform, which was by many proclaimed 
to be the only efficacious remedy for the evils of the times ; 
whilst, to recommend that a decision should be come to would 
not only offend many friends, but would be to urge on the 
promulgation of an article of faith, in opposition to a 
minority indeed, but one powerful, numerous, and eminent 
for learning ; and would also be to deviate from what 
had hitherto been a fixed rule, — the avoidance of any 
determination of questions previously held, without reproach, 
in the schools." 1 

Eight prelates were then ordered to draw up a statement 
respecting the other heads of reformation, omitting the first ; 
but the two articles on clandestine marriages were to be left 
till a more fitting occasion. As to the previous disputes, it 
was recommended that all that had passed should be sup- 
pressed, for the credit of all was at stake, and the disclosure 
of such dissensions would tend little to increase people's 
confidence in the council. But earnestly as this was urged 
by the cardinal of Mantua, scarcely was the assembly dis- 
missed, but every place was filled with these rumours, and 
numberless letters were written to the city and other places, 
and, for the most part, little respect was paid to veracity. 
To continue in Paleotto's words : — " It was really wonderful 
how afflicted almost all were as they left the synod j and I 
have seen some even shedding tears over such confusion and 
disturbance in the synod. Hence various discussions began 
to occupy the conversation of men. Some censured the 
legates in unmeasured terms for so imprudently bringing the 
opinions of the fathers to a scrutiny where so serious a matter 
was concerned. Others were dissatisfied with the reference 
to the pope, alleging that it gave the heretics a great hand 
for representing them as mere creatures of the popes, and as 
having given their verdicts with a view to gaining favour 
with him. Others rather lamented that the pope, who had 
always wished the council to enjoy full liberty, was now, by 
the imprudence of those who had referred the matter to him, 
exposed to the blame of what he had all along studiously- 
avoided. 

r P. clxx. 



294 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" This was undoubtedly the foundation of the great discords, 
and the seed-plot of the abuse and calumnies which followed. 
For the more earnest a man was on one side, so much the 
more eagerly did those of a contrary opinion persecute him 
with slander. Even the legates were not spared. They 
charged the cardinal of Mantua with having suborned some 
of the prelates to declare in favour of the divine right of 
residence, and with having made use of intimidation and 
bribery towards others. So vexed was the legate at these 
charges, that he demanded an attestation of his innocence 
and uprightness by a notary j and Paleotto, amongst others, 
subscribed it." s 

Seripando shared the same fate, but with less severity ; 
but Simonetta was, on the other hand, accused of indirect 
attempts to prevent the discussion of the right of residence, 
tending to injure the authority of the pontiff, the dignity of 
the cardinals, and the interests of the Roman court. The 
general opinion was, that the cardinal of Mantua and Seri- 
pando were favourable to the divine right ; whilst Simonetta 
was equally opposed. Hosius, whose integrity had been but 
little questioned, took the middle course. "But," adds 
Paleotto, " although the opinions of the legates were so 
different on this matter, all the most intelligent of the pre- 
lates felt fully persuaded that they had in no instance acted 
from fraud or ambition, but that each of them had acted 
conscientiously, and agreeably to what he really believed to 
be the best course for the advantage of the Church, and the 
care of Christianity; although their views had differed as to 
the means to be pursued."* 

As to the prelates, they fought, glacliator-like, with mutual 
and clandestine calumnies, with letters, which, setting mode- 
ration or decency at defiance, and invading the characters of 
the most learned and honourable members of the council, 
they sent to Rome. One party was accused of seeking to 
live in idleness and luxury ; the other of wishing to detract 
from the authority of the pope, and give the authority of 
chief pontiffs to the bishops in their respective dioceses. 
"The cause of the irritability and indecorous tumult in a 
body of such a description is indeed very plain. The subject 



s Paleotto, p. 117, sqq. 



* lb. p. 120. 



COUNCIL OF TKEOT. 



295 



of the residence of bishops among bishops was a touching 
one. Every individual had a conscience one way or other, 
to be moved by it ; some were, and knew that they were, 
guilty ; and others, in that respect, were, and knew that they 
were, clear. The latter predicament, however, did not 
exempt them from jealousy or envy. These circumstances 
produced a fund of combustible and explosive matter." u 

Just about this time, it was recommended that the synod 
should endeavour to induce the Christian princes to interpose 
their authority on behalf of those bishops who were detained 
in prison by the queen of England. The legates replied, that 
they were willing to assist them to the utmost of their 
power, but that they dreaded that such measures might only 
further excite the hatred and impiety of the queen against 
them. x Eventually the idea was abandoned, as the known 
severity of Elizabeth increased their fears. 

The session was rapidly approaching, the meeting was 
strengthened by the arrival of the "Venetian ambassadors, 
and Paleotto was employed to draw up such a decree as 
should be befitting the dignity of the synod. He executed 
the task with considerable ability and eloquence ; but when 
it came to be discussed, exceptions were made to various 
points, especially to the supposed implication of a continua- 
tion of the council, and it was accordingly abandoned. He 
then proposed the short one found among the Decrees and 
CanonsJ 

The 14th of May had been fixed for the session ; but 
Lanssac, the ambassador from the Erench court, wished it to 
be postponed until his arrival. But the archbishop of 
Granada successfully opposed this request, and the session 
was held as appointed. The patriarch of Venice celebrated 
the mass, and Beroaldo, bishop of St. Agatha, preached the 
sermon. The decree proroguing the session till the 4th of 
June 2 was then read, the credentials of the ambassadors from 
Spain and Florence, and of the bishops of Chorad and 
Tiniana, from Hungary, were formally received. 

u Mendham p. 203. x Paleotto, p. 121. r P. 129 of my edition. 

2 " The session after the next it was agreed to extend to a greater 
distance, a week after, because, as Paleotto frankly, and with a kind of 
apology for the levity of the individuals, relates, there were some who 
considered the remaining days of the month of May as ominous." — 
Mendham. 



296 



THE HISTORY OP THE 



Thus closed the proceedings of this session; proceedings 
which are fraught with instruction even to us at the present 
time. Pluralities and non-residence (and the two evils are 
inseparable) are as much the crying mischief of the reformed 
church as of the erring one for which the assembly at Trent 
was convoked. Capitular sinecures and nepotism now pre- 
sent as fruitful a field for reformation as the stem, well- 
defended abuses against which the Spanish prelates protested. 
It is time for us to act up to a lesson of which we cannot, 
dare not, profess ignorance. Declamatory protests against 
popery, heavy controversial discourses, and the supercilious 
respectability, with which wealth and inactivity too often 
clothe their clerical votaries, will not support the church in 
the face of neglected parishes, absence from those who are 
taxed to support it, and the thousands of souls uncared for, 
which are the moral victims of those, whose parishes are 
known as little else than a part of their revenue. 

CHAPTER LIY. 

Letters from Borne, &c. &c. 

As the next session was to be held in a few days, the 
legates, while waiting for the reply of the pontiff to the 
reference made to him by the council, had directed eight of 
the fathers to draw up the decrees of reformation. Among 
these the first one on residence was introduced. For, 
although the synod had declared that the subject should be 
deferred, the legates thought it advisable to bring it forward, 
at the same time allowing each prelate leave of absence for 
two months in the year, and the pontiff a wide latitude of 
dispensation ; a privilege which was also to be enjoyed, in 
case of necessity, by metropolitans in places distant from 
Eome. a 

But scarcely had this compromising document been com- 
pleted, and placed for revision in the hands of four eminent 
professors of the canon law, when letters came from Borne, 
declaring that the whole court was thrown into disturbance 
by the dispute concerning residence, which was likely to do 
signal harm, not only to the Roman court, but likewise to the 



a Waterworth, p. clxxii. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



297 



pontiff himself ; that the pontiff understood that serious dis- 
sensions had broken out between the legates and prelates, 
and that he had therefore summoned his cardinals on the 
subject, to the end that the Christian commonwealth might 
sustain no damage ; and that he had even determined to 
send three fresh legates to Trent. b 

The pontiff also gave his opinion respecting ninety-five 
articles of reform, which had been sent by Pendasio, as early 
as the 11th of April. He left all of them to the decision of 
the council, with the exception of eleven points which imme- 
diately concerned his own tribunals, and for which he 
declared himself determined to provide a remedy by his own 
authority. As to the obnoxious article of residence, he 
wished that its discussion should either altogether cease, or 
be reserved till men's minds had recovered a state of tran- 
quillity more suited to the consideration of such matters. 

At Trent, the feeling was one of painful anxiety. The 
cardinal of Mantua and Seripando, who were known to 
favour the divine right of residence, but whose high authority 
and ability made them objects of respect, would be disgraced 
by the proposed appointment of legates extraordinary ; the 
malevolent would have an excuse to represent the new lega- 
tion as a contrivance to defeat the application of a remedy 
to the corrupt state of the Roman court ; the prelates who 
had supported residence would be abused and calumniated in 
the city, and their opponents treated with high favour. 
Finally, the greatest dread was that the chief legate would, 
for his own dignity, be compelled to resign office, a fact 
which might end in the dissolution of the council. 

Amid this mass of difficulties, vexations, and insults, the 
legates laboured to hush up the question of residence for the 
present. But the Spanish prelates were resolute in their 
demands either for an express promise that the matter 
should be considered in a future session, or for a secret one 
to the same effect under the seal of the legates. The legates 
refused to consent to either proposal ; but did not refuse to 
give the subject consideration under the sacrament of Order. 

b Paleotto, p. 130, sq. "This is confirmed by a letter of Visconti to 
Cardinal Borromeo, of the 6th of June, 1562, from Venice on his way 
to Trent. But he understood that the resolution was abandoned." — 
Mendham, p. 205, note. Cf. Sarpi, p. 409 * Pallav. xiv. 8 and 9. 



298 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER LV. 

Arrival of the French Ambassadors. Further Difficulties. The 
Tiventieth Session. 

On the 18th of May, Lanssac, who had recently been at 
Home as ambassador extraordinary to the pope ; Arnold du 
Ferrier, president of the parliament of Paris ; and Guy 
de Pibrac, chief justice of Toulouse, made their appearance 
at the council, and delivered an oration, to which an answer 
was not immediately returned. According to custom, a 
copy of the oration had been previously sent to the secretary, 
in order that a suitable answer might be returned. But it 
was found that the oration spoken on the 16th of May, in a 
general congregation, was very different from the one deli- 
vered in writing, and that it was replete with bitter and 
sarcastic expressions ; a reply was therefore deferred till the 
day of session. The language of Lanssac seems to have been 
bold and inicompromising, and scarcely reverent. "His 
oration, among other unwelcome suggestions, dwelt upon the 
danger in which the fathers were, from the temptations of 
the devil, to pay too much respect to the will of princes ; it 
intimated rather significantly that the Holy Spirit came only 
from Heaven ; and required that the present council should 
be considered as a new one." c 

The Spanish prelates, on the other hand, were equally 
urgent that it should be declared a continuation of the pre- 

Seripando succeeded in justifying himself so effectually at Rome, that 
the additional legates were not sent, though Yisconti was deputed to 
Trent to maintain a continual and accurate correspondence with the 
pontiff, on the proceedings of the council. — Waterworth, p. clxxiii. 

c Mendham, p. 207 ; who adds in a note : " Pallavicino, xvi. x. 12, 
ascribes to Lanssac the well-known, but rather profane, taunt, of the 
Holy Spirit being sent from Rome in a bag, — ' Che non mandasse lo 
Spirito Santo nelle valigia.' There appears some reference to it in the 
oration, where it is observed, that the Holy Spirit only came from 
Heaven." Cramp, the author of the Text Book of Popery, observes, in 
his brief history of the Council of Trent, p. 113 (Society's edition), that 
es Lanssac and his companions did not scruple to write or speak of the 
pope and his measures with the most provoking indifference and free- 
dom ; his power excited no alarm. Even his office was treated with 
small respect or reverence. It was reported that Lanssac had said to 
some bishops, whom he had invited to dine with him, that there would 
come so many prelates from France and Germany that they should 
drive away the Romish idol." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



299 



vious one ; whilst the imperial prelates had received orders 
from Ferdinand to withdraw from the council, should any 
such decision be introduced into the decrees. 

To add to these complicated embarrassments, the pope had 
distinctly promised the king of Spain that a declaration 
ratifying the "continuation" of the council should be passed, 
and had written to the legates desiring them to act accord- 
ingly. Clearly perceiving that to urge this step would be to 
break up the council, they resolved to act upon their own 
responsibility, and to abstain, for the present, from any 
decree beyond the prorogation of the session. In this con- 
duct it will be seen that the pope eventually acquiesced. 
The Spaniards were put off with the promise that the doc- 
trines should be begun, or rather prosecuted, from the point 
at which they were interrupted in the council under 
J ulius III. ; so that, from the very series and context of the 
former council, a conjunction and connection should be evi- 
dent to all. " After such a representation as this, by an able 
adherent of the papacy and the council, professedly recording 
the acts of the latter, how is it possible to wonder that the 
Protestants should distrust and avoid a religious assembly, 
or rather tribunal, the managers of which, by an artifice so 
dishonourable, sought to entrap them into a subjection to 
decrees made, not only without their cognizance and partici- 
pation, but to their manifest injury and ruin ? " d 

Fresh letters came from the pontiff, directing that the 
continuation of the council should still be published. Just, 
however, as the legates were about to despatch Cardinal 
Altemps to Rome, to explain their reasons for acting at 
variance with the pope's orders, fresh despatches came, 
leaving the matter to their own discretion, but desiring that 
the continuation should be made practically evident. 

These letters gave great delight to the legates; and, in the 
absence of the cardinal of Mantua, Seripando presided over 
a general congregation, held on the 3rd of June, in which he 
exhorted the fathers to the study of concord and piety, and 
informed them that business would be deferred till a future 
session. It was then agreed that an answer should be given 
to the address of the French ambassadors, in which feeling 



d Mendham, p. 208. 



300 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



should be sacrificed to policy. The decree of the prorogation 
was then read, and approved by all but the archbishop of 
Lanciano, who objected to the liberty claimed at the close of 
it, of anticipating or extending the day of session. About 
twenty-five or thirty prelates objected to the omission of the 
article on residence, and a few prelates, from Italy and Spain, 
urged the retention of the ¥ continuation " clause. Some of 
the fathers complained that earlier intimation had not been 
given of the difficulties in which the council was placed ; but 
Seripando vindicated the conduct of the legates with great 
spirit. 

On the following day, June 4th, 1562, the twentieth ses- 
sion was opened. Mass having been preached by the bishop 
of Salamanca, and the sermon preached by Paggazone, bishop 
of Nazianzum and elect of Famagosta, the credentials of the 
Swiss and French ambassadors, and of the proctors of the 
archbishop of Salzburg, were received, and the discourse of 
the French ambassador and its reply read. The bishop of 
Salamanca then read the decree, stating that, in consequence 
of the difficulties which had ensued, the joint subjects of 
doctrine and reformation would be postponed till the next 
session, which was appointed for the 16th of July next. 
Thirty-six bishops gave in written protests, in which they 
adhered to the objections made by them in the previous con- 
gregations. 

There were present, the four legates, one other cardinal, 
five patriarchs, two archbishops, one hundred and twenty - 
eight bishops, two abbots, five ambassadors, and four 
generals of religious orders. e 

CHAPTER LVL 

Touching the Communion under both hinds. Demands of the Bavarian 
Ambassadors. 

On the 6th of June, the legates proposed the following 
articles respecting the eucharist, which had been postponed 
under Julius : — 

1. Whether, by the divine ordinance, all and each of the 



e So Servantio. Le Plat says, two patriarchs, seventeen archbishops, 
one hundred and thirty-eight bishops, four ambassadors. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



301 



faithful in Christ are bound, for the sake of salvation, to re- 
ceive the most holy sacrament of the eucharist 1 

2. Are the reasons by which the holy Catholic Church has 
been induced to communicate the laity, and the priests, when 
not celebrating, under the species of bread only, to be held so 
strictly, as that the use of the cup be under no circumstances 
allowed to any [of the above-mentioned j)ersons] ? 

3. Whether, if, for reasons becoming and agreeable to 
Christian charity, it should be thought fit to permit the use 
of the chalice to any nation or kingdom, is this to be granted 
under certain conditions, and what should these conditions 
be? 

4. Does he who partakes of this sacrament under one 
kind receive less than he who [has received it] ,under both ? 

5. Is it necessary, by the divine law, to administer this 
most august sacrament to children, before they have arrived 
at the years of discretion ? f 

All were satisfied with the proposal of these articles, 
except the archbishop of Granada, who maintained that the 
first had been settled by the Council of Constance, and did 
not therefore demand re-discussion, and that the other heads 
were so closely connected with it, as to require only a cursory 
notice ; that it would be far better to proceed at once to the 
sacrament of Orders, and the vexatious question of residence. 
This roused the spirit of the bishop of Rossano, whose views 
were of a totally opposite character, and a dispute ensued, 
the violence of which compelled the first legate to interfere. 
With considerable difficulty he succeeded in appeasing their 
wrath, promising that, if they would at present keep quiet, 
he would hereafter treat of residence when the question of 
order should be under consideration. This promise gave 
Simonetta so much annoyance, that a total coldness ensued 
between them.s Nor was the pope much better pleased, as 
he found himself pledged to keep open a question which he 
wished might either be totally suppressed, or deferred till a 
later period. 

f Paleotto, p. 142, sq. ; Pallav. xvii. 1. Sarpi makes the articles six 
in number, his second being, " Whether the Church was induced by 
just reasons to communicate the laity under the form of bread only, or 
was guilty of error in so doing ?" (p. 415). 

« Sarpi, p. 416. 



302 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



The archbishop of Lanciano was then sent to Rome to 
inform the pope of the state of affairs, and the pressing 
petitions respecting the question of residence, and the 
declaration of continuation, upon which the legates were 
most anxious to know his determination. 

On the 27th of June, with the Venetian ambassadors, 
appeared those from Bavaria. After earnestly denouncing 
the evils attendant on celibacy, and the profligate conduct of 
the clergy, they presented a petition containing twenty heads 
of reform, praying that the supreme pontiff would suffer both 
himself and his court to undergo a reform ; that the number of 
cardinals be reduced ; that no more scandalous dispensations 
be allowed ; that all exemptions contrary to the common law 
be rescinded ; and that all monasteries be placed under the 
power of the diocesan ; that pluralities be abolished ; that 
bishops, except under the most pressing necessity, be com- 
pelled to reside ; that all ecclesiastical offices be afforded 
without pay, and that incompetent benefices be incorporated 
with others; that the old canons against simony be renewed; 
that the superfluous constitutions of the Church be expunged ; 
that excommunication be only used in case of mortal sin, and 
notorious irregularity ; that the haste and slovenliness with 
which the divine offices are now performed, be amended ; 
that breviaries and missals be expurgated, and curtailed, with 
the omission of all unscriptural matter ; that prayers in the 
vernacular tongue be intermixed with those celebrated in 
Latin ; that the misapplication of clerical and monastic pro- 
perty be amended ; that some relaxation be made respecting 
abstinence from certain meats, and celibacy, in the case of 
certain nations ; that a new book of rituals, calculated for 
the use of all parish priests, be compiled, to prevent the con- 
fusion and variation now existing ; that means be sought not 
merely to expel evil parish-priests, but to substitute good 
ones ; that more bishoprics be established in large districts ; 
that it will be perhaps better, for the present, to pass over 
the many abuses and perversions of church property to other 
purposes ; and lastly (apparently with a view of making the 
pontiff some amends for the disagreeable character of the 
previous demands), that the legates presiding in the council 
take care that such useless questions as the divine right of 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



303 



residence be avoided ; or, if discussed, that the fathers pre- 
serve their tempers. 11 

The legates replied, that it would be impossible to take 
these matters into consideration at present, as the important 
and difficult subject of the communion under both kinds 
would absorb all the attention during the present session. 
Besides, the matters proposed were of a varied and distinct 
character, and it would therefore be best for them to be dis- 
cussed under such heads of reformation as might be best 
adapted for their consideration during the ensuing session. 

The cardinal of Mantua, vexed by the obloquy and 
calumny with which he had been rewarded for his earnest 
exertions, wrote to the pontiff, setting forth his past services, 
and craving permission to resign his office of first legate. 
He felt that, having pledged himself to allow the discussion 
of residence, he could not, consistently with honour, retain 
his office without fulfilling his promise, and he therefore 
sought to be freed from the irksome and painful task. At 
the same time, several prelates took this opportunity for 
leaving the council, first addressing a letter to the pontiff on 
the unhappy state of affairs, signed by thirty-two of them. 1 

The archbishop of Lanciano was at Rome, and dreading 
the consequences of the legate's resignation, he represented 
them to the pope in strong terms. It was obvious that a 
suspension, if not a total break-up, of the council would 
follow ; that the whole proceeding, already rendered doubtful 
by its many interruptions, would be looked upon with sus- 
picion by Catholics, and utterly derided by the reformed 
party ; nay, it is not too much to say, that the Council of 
Trent, if not already in a state of actual schism, was fast 
approaching a condition painfully like it. The pontiff, how- 
ever anxious he might have felt for the removal of a servant 
who, though faithful to his master, was still more so to his 
own word, determined to choose the least of two evils, and 
retain his legate. He accordingly wrote to the cardinal with 
his own hand, and not only exhorted, but even commanded 
him to continue his presidency of the council. He also 
ordered a breve to be written to the prelates who had 



h Sarpi, p. 417, sq. 



1 Paleotto, p. 169. 



304 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



addressed him on the subject of residence, which he intrusted 
to the archbishop of Lanciano, with verbal instructions how 
to act with the president and the prelates. 

On the return of the bishop to Trent, the cardinal of 
Mantua being reassured of the confidence of the pontiff, as 
well as of his good will towards residence (as soon as the 
j>resent difficulties could be got over), resolved to sacrifice his 
own feelings to the public good, and continue in office. More- 
over, his opponent Simonetta had been warned, by private 
letters, to pay all possible respect to the chief legate, and to 
take care that the question of the divine right should proceed 
no further. After the breve had been delivered to the pre- 
lates, the archbishop represented as the pope's desire, that the 
seeds of contention, which the evil demon is wont to scatter, 
should be dismissed; that they should cherish the tranquillity 
and mutual agreement in the synod, which can alone procure 
the grace of the Holy Spirit. In former sessions, he observed, 
when matters of controversy arose, they were set aside and 
passed over in silence. He concluded by stating that he felt 
certain, that, if the fathers would leave the whole matter to his 
holiness, he would by a breve pronounce residence to be a 
matter of his own jurisdiction^ 

CHAPTEK LVIL 

Discussion respecting the Communion under both hinds. Influences of the 
Scholastic Philosophy. 

Meanwhile, from the 10th until the 23rd of June, the un- 
principled innovation, by which the cup is denied to the 
laity — a subject which the recent embassies had made of 
paramount importance — had occupied the attention of the 
congregations. That the whole investigation was profitless, 
as far as any approach to the truth was concerned j that it 
was a display of jugglery and hair-splitting, disgraceful to the 
intellect, and damning to the religious principles of all con- 
cerned, no one but a Romanist can deny. No improvement 
can be expected from reading the narrative of such proceedings, 
except the useful lesson, that, when a body of men have once 
made up their minds to deliberate and dishonest error, their dis- 
cussions only serve to strengthen them in the mistake, till they 

k See Mendham, p. 220, note. 



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305 



fancy their consciences bound to stand by the fictions of their 
ingenuity, and at last begin to believe themselves converts to 
what they have taught others. 

There is another advantage in this sort of questions, 
which is, that they spare the necessity of discussing real 
abuses. Practical reform is kept at a distance, while men are 
quarrelling about words, to which they affix no definite mean- 
ing. Such disputes, in fact, are a sort of game of definitions. 
All agree that certain words and phrases are to be the con- 
ventional marks of faith and practice ; but the freedom of 
the human mind, its passions and its weaknesses, cannot bear 
anything positive. If it perfectly understands, it is un- 
happy ; there is no scope for tentative philosophy, no oppor- 
tunity for clever subtilities, no hope of displaying its superior 
cleverness in disentangling a quibble, or fixing' a point pre- 
viously left doubtful. Had the Roman pontiffs attempted to 
overthrow scholastic divinity, religion would have followed 
it. Had they deprived men of the free indulgence of the 
habit of finding reasons for anything, they would have per- 
sonally suffered by the loss. Where even traditions had 
failed, the splendid talents of the schoolmen had reared an 
edifice, which — by the perfection and consistency even of its 
manifold contradictions, by the intricacy which, while it 
wandered through a labyrinth of reasonings and doubts, ever 
kept certain great theories of church hierarchy in view — 
proved a barrier, that even truth itself could not assail 
without frequently feeling the weakness of her advocates. 

As "Neoplatonism had, in early ages, become the favourite 
protege* of rationalizing Christianity, so, when the papal 
theory had gradually sprung up, and when the whole scheme 
of papal Catholicism had asserted its position, the scholastic 
philosophy was pressed into the service. 1 Little as the two 
were naturally associated, dogmatic theology and speculative 
philosophy were, by the wondrous ingenuity of metaphy- 
sicians, reduced to one friendly system : their very contra- 
dictions became the bonds of a firm union, and it was often 
difficult to tell where the speculative and the dogmatic began 
and ended. It is vain to indulge in declamations against the 

1 "La theologie ne s'empara point de la philosophie pour en faire sa 
servante, comme on l'a dit, mais son esclave par violence." — M. Xavier 
Rousselot, Etudes sur la Philosophie dans le Moyen-Age, p. 6. 

X 



306 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



barbarism and ignorance of the schoolmen. If they lacked 
practical knowledge, they at least exhausted every theory that 
antiquity had handed down to them. If they drew wrong 
conclusions, it was because the mistaken union of Christian 
truths with pagan speculations had supplied them with 
fanciful postulates. If they had little correct knowledge in 
matters of fact, none were better skilled in, none did so much 
towards establishing, a right system of the laws of thought. 

But in proportion as the ingenuity of rival disputants was 
sharpened, in proportion as the wit of the opponent height- 
ened the powers of the advocate, so did each man's, or each 
party's tenets and theories become dear as a beloved child. 
Orthodoxy in religion, as in philosophy, became too personal 
in its character ; and while one sect despised another for some 
minute difference, both sides forgot to appeal to the one great 
test of truth, — the revealed word. As the doctrines of the 
Trinity had given rise to the painful and unsatisfactory here- 
sies of the early Church, so the doctrines of transubstantiation, 
and of its consequent the denial of the cup, had grown up 
from the subtilities of the schoolmen. Both were novelties 
as far as the early Church was concerned ; but the constant 
and practised taste for interpreting texts, whether of Scrip- 
ture or of the fathers, in different ways, while it produced 
uniformity as to the grand fundamental error, left number- 
less points of detail, more or less important, open to the 
discussions and disputes of the rival schools of Bomanist 
philosophers. 

The consequences of this speculative system have been seen 
in the case of transubstantiation — an error which, while the 
Council of Trent were prepared to ratify it with their verdict 
and anathema, was still too replete with favourite questions 
of an intricate and uncertain character, to allow of too definite 
an expression of views. It will be seen that, throughout the 
discussions touching the administration of the sacrament 
under both kinds, the same spirit reigned. While the heretic 
could gain no concession, those within the pale of Bomanism, 
how different soever might be their opinions in detail, had 
only to agree in the common point of denial. For the rest, 
the Church gave them the same liberty of talking and 
disputing, which it had yielded to them on other matters. 

I am not going to repeat the arguments urged against the 



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307 



denial of the cup, but I must give some brief account of the 
discussions themselves. Perhaps no point is so clumsily- 
explained, or so glaringly set against the very face of truth, 
throughout the whole of the Decrees and Canons of this 
council. 

In the private assemblies of the theologians, it was at 
length agreed, that there is no divine law requiring either 
laymen or priests, when not sacrificing, to communicate 
under both kinds ; that as much is contained under one kind 
as under both ; and that infants, before they have reached 
years of discretion, are not required to communicate. 111 But 
as to the grace received by virtue of the opus operatum, n the 
greater number were of opinion that the same amount of 
grace is received by communicating under both kinds, as one 
only. The archbishop of Granada objected to this article, 
which was directed against Luther, and was answered by the 
cardinal of Mantua. As to the two other articles, they were 
looked upon as matters of opinion rather than faith, and the 
theologians seemed almost equally divided in their opinions 
as to the propriety of changing the existing discipline of the 
Church. 

Four canons, detailing the opinions above mentioned, were 
now laid before the congregation; but the legates recom- 
mended that the two, on which so much doubt existed, should 
be postponed for the present — a measure which the imperial 
prelates strongly opposed, and to which they only consented 
on condition that a declaration should be inserted in the 
decree to be passed in the session, that the remaining questions 
should be discussed as soon as possible. 

"We have already alluded to the objection raised against 
the third canon. It was held that, this point having been 
defined under Julius, and previously settled in the councils 
of Florence and Constance, it was useless, and would be a 
mere sham-fight with a shadow. P Seripando, however, replied 
that it concerned the use rather than the doctrine of the 
eucharist, and it was determined to leave it an open 
question. 

m Paleotto, p. 146. ■ Id. p. 150. 

° Cf. Decrees and Canons, p. 133. 

p "Verebatur enim, ut illudendi nos occasio aliquibus praebeatur, 
quod adversus larvas imaginaria pugna dimicemus." — Paleotto, p. 150, 

x 2 



308 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



It was then determined that the canons should be re- 
modelled, and preceded by a clear declaration of Catholic 
doctrine on the subjects involved. The preparation of the 
new canons of faith, and of the decrees on reformation, was 
intrusted to Simonetta, Del Blanco, Buonocompagnio, and the 
general of the Augustinians ; whilst Hosius, Seripando, and 
the bishops of Paris, Chiozzia, Ostium, and the general of the 
Augustinians, were to frame the explanation of doctrine. 

During this discussion, many serious disputes arose, and 
many trivial cavils, both sufficient to show the intemperate 
folly of the Church in arrogating to itself a right to deny, 
in the very face of Scripture, what Christ had instituted for 
all. 

Some found fault with the diction, and j)referred a rougher 
and more antiquated style, resembling that of the ancient 
canons, while another party could not see the necessity of 
departing from the pure and chastened Latinity which had 
grown into use since the revival of letters. The words 
"most august," applied to the sacrament, gave offence to 
some, as being an epithet properly belonging to the Boman 
enrperors, and some wished that the term "most holy" should 
be substituted. But did these conscientious haters of pagan 
epithets ever object to the word pontiff? 

A more serious objection arose from the fear lest the word- 
ing of the second canon should create disturbance in Cyprus 
and Candia, where more than six hundred thousand persons, 
although in communion with Borne, made use of both kinds. 
It was replied, that the anathema was intended to apply only 
to those who asserted the receiving of both kinds to be 
of divine right. Again, the French were equally solicitous, 
while supporting the petition of the imperial party for the 
use of the chalice, that no phrase should be introduced 
apparently condemning the ancient custom of communicating 
their kings under both kinds on the day of coronation, and 
an equally ancient practice, on certain holy days, in some of 
the Cistercian monasteries. A document, authorizing those 
of the Greek Church to partake of both kinds, was also 
brought forward. 

It was agreed, at the suggestion of the bishops of Herda 
and Famagosto, that this objectionable clause should be more 
distinctly explained, and not left in general terms. This was 



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309 



done in the first chapter, in which the words of St. J ohn had 
been originally, without limitation, adduced in support of the 
communion under both kinds. This, at the same time, 
met the difficulty, stated by the bishop of Yiviers, against 
adducing the much-disputed discourse in the sixth chapter of 
St. John, as explanatory of the eucharist. 

As to the last point, the bishop of Brescia wished that the 
communicating of children should be declared not only 
unnecessary, but forbidden. But, as the authority of St. 
Dionysius and St. Cyprian was alleged to the contrary, and 
as such communion had been by no means uncommon in the 
early Church, it was thought inexpedient to venture so far in 
a statement. 

CHAPTER LYIII. 

Decrees on Reformation. 

In the draught of the decrees touching reformation, which 
appear in their complete form in the Decrees and Canons, 
"it is deserving attention, that, in the very first introductory 
paragraph, the important word continue, as applied to the 
council, is introduced in the insidious way, which, it will be 
recollected, was proposed. It is remarkable too, that in 
company with those to whom it was no secret, and before 
whom it would appear ridiculous to affect to treat it as such, 
no attempt is made to palliate or disguise the iniquities pre- 
vailing among the clergy. It will, however, be recollected, 
that these were prelates, who pronounced thus freely respect- 
ing the inferior clergy." r 

So Mendham, who is, however, too disposed to underrate 
the measures of reform proposed at this session. A few other 
points of alteration in the decrees, as they at present stand, 
may be briefly noticed. 

In the first chapter, it had been declared simoniacal, to 
receive even voluntary offerings for the collation of orders : 
but this clause was omitted, as that offence does not consti- 
tute simony. The allowance of the tenth part of a crown, 
to notaries was limited to those countries in which those 
officers had previously been wont to receive such remunera- 
tion. In the third chapter, a third part of the revenues 



<* P. 133, sqq. 



r Mendham, p. 214. 



310 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



employed in distributions was definitely set apart for that 
purpose, instead of leaving the amount optional. The capitu- 
lar obligations upon the bishop, originally inserted in the 
fifth chapter, with reference to the establishing of unions, 
were cancelled from this, and some other similar decrees, at 
the instance and opposition of the imperial and some Italian 
prelates. 

But the last chapter gave rise to most discussion, being the 
abuse connected with the questors of alms. In a scheme of 
reformation there are generally some parties upon whom the 
onus of general hatred and abuse can be suffered to fall, 
without awakening any sympathy. The memory of Tetzel, 
his infamous purloinings and exactions, and his grand mistake 
in suffering them to be found out and exposed, rose to the 
minds of the prelates ; and the majority, looking upon the 
fraudulent conduct of these men as, at least, the occasion of 
Luther's secession, were clamorous for their extirpation. 

Another party, who, however, seem to have defended the 
office rather than the men, alleged that the office was one 
of great antiquity, and had received the approval of several 
councils, although they had repressed abuses connected there- 
with. They added, that many hospitals and other charitable 
institutions derived their origin thence ; that by their means 
the pontiff was enabled to distribute indulgences and spiri- 
tual relief among those who, by reason of their distance, 
could not easily come to Rome ; and that to abolish the office 
would be to lock up the treasures of the Church from many of 
those who most needed them. After considerable discussion, 
it was agreed to compromise the matter, by forbidding the 
questors exercising their office, except by permission of the 
ordinary. Great dissatisfaction arose; but was calmed by 
the opportune arrival of the bishop of Lanciano, s who re- 
ported the determination of his holiness, that the obnoxious 
order should be abolished. This act was therefore put in 
execution, and, as a work of reform, becomes excessive^ 
interesting from the circumstances which had first given 
rise to its discussion. 

s On the 10th of July. Allusion has already been made to his 
mediation between the pope and the first legate. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



311 



CHAPTER LIX. 

Continued Disputes respecting Residence. Letters of Visconti. 

Meanwhile, the disputes on the subject of residence abated 
none of their rancour ; and the disposition of the legates in 
favour of the measure was interpreted as the commencement 
of a conspiracy against the papal authority ; and the pope 
himself, vexed at the injury likely to accrue from the agita- 
tion thus encouraged, began to suspect even Cardinal Morone 
of disaffection — a charge which the cardinal tacitly refuted 
by writing letters to two of the prelates at Trent, in which 
he strongly censured the proceedings of the party. 

It will be remembered that Visconti, bishop of Venti- 
miglio, had been sent to Trent with the view of informing 
the pontiff how the affairs of the council were conducted, and 
he may be said to have superintended the conduct of the 
legates; thereby adding to the many interferences with the 
liberty of the council. 

* In a letter of the 6th," remarks Mendham, " he enters 
rather at large on the manner in which he had employed him- 
self since his arrival, and of the caution with which he was 
making himself acquainted with the state of things ; and at 
the close, he refers to the misunderstanding occasioned by 
the stirring question of residence between the two legates, 
the cardinal of Mantua and Simonetta. From another letter, 
soon after, it appears, that the nuncio set about the work of 
reconciliation with great zeal and address, having conferred 
with both parties, who hardly seem to have known why they 
differed. A few days onward the subject is resumed. But 
it appeared, that one cause of jealousy was, that the letters, 
which were formerly directed to the chief legate, were after- 
wards addressed to the other. Something is likewise inti- 
mated respecting the declaration of the continuation of the 
council. But it is in a letter of the 2nd of July, and in the 
close, which is in cipher, that the clearest discovery of the 
state of things and parties is made. There the writer 
declares his conviction, that when Order is discussed, there is 
an expectation from promises to the purpose, that residence 
will be introduced, which he anticipates will be productive 
of no little danger. He had conversed with many who 
espoused it, and they affirmed their party to be stronger than 



312 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



was apprehended. Among these were some well-disposed to 
the papal interests, one of whom acknowledged to the writer 
that he might retain his consistency ; and this, he inferred, 
would be the conduct of the rest : they likewise alleged 
their conscience. As to any change for the better, if Mantua, 
as was rumoured, should resign, he considered the expectation 
quite groundless. He therefore sees no other remedy than 
that, before the session of the sacrifice of the mass, his holi- 
ness should issue a breve declaring residence, with other 
conditions appearing expedient to his beatitude ; and in this 
manner he thought every one would be readily satisfied. 
The next letter, of the 6th of July, mentions the application 
of the ambassadors of the empire and Bavaria to have the 
subject of communion in both kinds discussed. The French 
ambassador united with them ; and added, that in France it 
was desired to have worship in the vernacular tongue, which 
he thought right, and argued for the abolition of the images 
of saints, and of the enforcement of celibacy on the clergy. 
It is thought that the request of the emperor being conceded, 
other demands, such as the preceding, will follow, and that 
if it be not conceded, he will be exasperated. On the 13th 
of July, the nuncio expresses himself much aggrieved by the 
license of speech in which the fathers indulged themselves ; 
and adds, that he had recommended to the legates the 
example of their predecessor Crescenzio, who, when he per- 
ceived the prelates to wander, interrupted them without 
ceremony, and bade them keep to the point ; and thus 
brevity would be secured, and novelties precluded. Onward 
he notices the breve, which Monsignor di Lanciano had 
brought from Rome. The long conclusion in cipher is an 
account of the measure taken to produce at least an external 
reconciliation between the two disunited legates." t 

CHAPTER LX. 

The Twenty-first Session, 

On the 14th of July, the archbishop of Granada caused a 
fresh disturbance by starting anew some doubts touching the 
meaning of the sixth chapter of St. John's Gospel, as to 
whether it was to be understood in a spiritual sense only, or 
1 Mendham, p. 217. sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



313 



with reference to the sacrament itself. But Seripando, who 
had strong reasons for believing that the archbishop's sole 
motive was to delay the proceedings of the council, replied 
as follows : — 

" I would wish that all those most wise fathers, to whom 
the synod has committed the restoration of doctrine, should 
now give a reason in your presence of their opinions and 
proceedings ; not doubting but that their learning and high 
position would soon remove any doubts that might remain on 
some of your minds. I will briefly remark, that two opinions 
have arisen from the sixth chapter of J ohn • one among Catho- 
lics, — viz. whether that passage is to be understood of the 
spiritual use only, or of the sacramental likewise. With 
this the present doctrine has nothing to do, since it is not 
the purpose of the synod to define respecting controversies 
raised among Catholics. The other question is between our- 
selves and the heretics, who derive from this passage their 
argument touching the necessary administration of the sacra- 
ment to the faithful under both kinds. It is this difficulty, 
and not the other, which our doctrine meets ; nor does it exceed 
its own bounds. But whether it does sufficiently what is in- 
tended, must be yours to decide : for my own part, it seems 
to be fully satisfactory, unless the words be improperly 
twisted into a wrong meaning. And as we desire every such 
feeling to be absent from the candour of your dispositions, so 
do we warn you, that nothing, under present circumstances, 
can happen more disgraceful and contemptible to the 
holy synod, than for the synod not to be held on the 
appointed day ; since the oft-repeated prorogations must 
have excited animadversion, if not disgust, among the whole 
world." u 

But the debates on this subject were not so easily settled, 
and it was at last proposed, with a view of preventing 
ambiguity, to insert the words : " however it be understood, 
according to the various interpretations of the holy fathers 
and doctors." To this eighty-seven agreed, and only twelve 
dissented; either alleging motives of personal objection to 
the archbishop, or because they thought the dignity of the 
synod compromised by confessing to the existence of such a 
controversy. 

n Paleotto, p. 176. 



314 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



The next day, when the legates thought that all disputes 
were at an end, almost at the seventeenth hour, Salineron, a 
Jesuit, and Torres, two eniinent theologians, who had been 
deputed by the pontiff, alleged that the doctrine published 
was adverse to the Catholic faith. In the first place, they 
said that the passage of St. John must evidently be explained 
of receiving the sacrament ; since there would otherwise be 
no satisfactory passage of the sacred letter from which the 
precept enjoining the eucharist could be elicited. Secondly, 
that no reasons had been alleged why this rite of communi- 
cating under one species only had been instituted. Thirdly, 
they disapproved of the reason brought forward, why children 
are said to be under no obligation to receive the sacrament 
and communion. They wished that the words of the second 
chapter, in which St. Paul's saying, " Let a man so account of 
us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the myste- 
ries of God," is quoted, should be altered to the following : 
" For though Christ the Lord, in the last supper instituted 
and delivered to the apostles this venerable sacrament in the 
species of bread and wine, that instruction and tradition do 
not therefore extend to all the faithful, in such wise that, by 
the institution of Christ, they are bound to receive both 
species ; but only unto those to whom it was said, c Do this in 
remembrance of me to those, forsooth, unto whom he gave 
power to make and to offer his own body and blood." x 
Although Hosius, Madrucci, and several other fathers ap- 
proved of this suggestion, it was eventually rejected. 

But even on the same day, when all were on the point of 
leaving the council, Arrias, bishop of Girone, begged to be 
heard. It was certainly to the credit of the legates, that they 
gave him a fair hearing. F But his remarks were of little 
importance, and certainly brought forward at a strange time. 

On the 16th of July, 1562, mass was celebrated by the 
archbishop of Spolatro, and a sermon preached by Duditro, 
bishop of Tinia, who, although the fathers had agreed to 
abstain from mention of the granting of the cup, proceeded 
to show the progress, and, in sophistical arguments, to show 
the propriety of the custom of denying it, lest the abuses, to 

x Pallav. xvii. 11, p. 414. Cf. Decrees and Canons, Sess. xxi. ch, 1. 
y Sarpi, p. 435 ; Paleotto, p. 178. 



COUNCIL OF TJEtEXT. 



315 



which the grant of the cup had led, should be revived. But 
he concluded by recommending that, under existing circum- 
stances, even the fear of this permission being abused should 
not prevent the grant of that blood which Christ shed for all. 
He thus ended a discourse little pleasing to the legates and 
others, who wished these condemned heads of doctrine to 
have been buried in eternal silence. 

The decrees were then read by the officiating prelate, and 
met with almost unanimous approval. But Hosius, still in 
favour of the alteration suggested by Salmeron and Torres, 
and yet unwilling to oppose his colleagues, instead of a simple 
" placet," replied, " If this decree shall please the holy father, 
it will also please me." The patriarch of Jerusalem gave a 
like reply. A few further objections were made to the clause 
touching the various interpretations of the passage of St. 
John ; and Domini co Stella, bishop of Salpi, was discontented 
with the reason given in the fourth chapter for the non- 
necessity of infants receiving the eucharist, and wished that 
the words of St. Paul, " Let a man prove himself," might be 
alleged as being an unsatisfactory reading for the non-admis- 
sion of children to that sacrament. 

At this session, six cardinals, three patriarchs, nineteen 
archbishops, one hundred and forty-eight bishops, three 
abbots, and six generals of religious orders were present. 

CHAPTER LXI. 

Reconciliation of the Cardinal of Mantua and Simonetta. Questions 
relating to the Mass. 

Although, if we may believe Sarpi, the proceedings of the 
previous session gave little satisfaction, and the " labouring 
mountain bringing forth a mouse" was in everybody's mouth, 
yet something was to be hoped from the harmony arising 
from the reconciliation of the cardinal of Mantua and 
Simonetta. At the earnest request of the pontiff, expressed in 
letters from the brother of Simonetta and Cardinal Gonzaga, 
the two rival legates became friends, and began to take 
counsel together as to the best means of satisfying the pontiff 
and putting an end to the disorder and disputes on the sub- 
ject of residence, a subject which the majority of the prelates 
now seemed inclined to refer to the pontiff. A breve, sent 



316 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



by the pope through the medium of Lanciano, and expressing 
the greatest affection and the most specious promises, had no 
small effect towards promoting good will; and the joy of the 
legates was still more increased by the arrival of a letter from 
the king of Spain to his ambassador, the marquis of Pescara, 
in which he consented to forego the points of issue respecting 
the "continuation" clause and the question of residence. 
The archbishop of Granada, in a respectful but firm tone, 
remonstrated on this concession, declaring that the king 
must have been misled on the subject ; and that, although he 
should forbear making any decided protest, he felt assured 
that the king would not be displeased at his persisting in 
advocating the cause of residence at future sessions. 

On the 20th of July, 1562, a congregation was held, in 
which it was proposed to treat of the sacrifice of the mass, 
and of the abuses connected therewith. The cardinal of 
Mantua exhorted the prelates to observe quiet and orderly 
manners in giving their opinions in the congregation, and 
that they should observe brevity as much as possible, at the 
same time mentioning the rules for the right management of 
the congregations, which the legates had caused to be drawn 
up, and which gave general satisfaction. Seripando then 
discoursed touching the manner of examining the heads of 
doctrine, and the anathemas appertaining thereunto, observ- 
ing, that as they had been all but settled in previous meet- 
ings, there would be little need for lengthy discussion. The 
archbishop of Granada thought, that as there was plenty of 
time to spare, the sacrament of Order might be treated of at 
the same time; to which opinion the bishop of the Five 
Churches gave his assent. 

The theologians and canonists having been classified, and 
each allotted their respective duties, with a view to insuring 
despatch in the examinations, the following thirteen articles 
were submitted to their consideration : — 

1. Is the mass a commemoration only of the sacrifice 
accomplished on the cross, and not a real sacrifice ? 

2. Does the sacrifice of the mass derogate from the sacri- 
fice of the cross ? 

3. Did Christ, by those words, " Do this in remembrance of 
me," ordain that the apostles should offer up his body and 
blood in the mass 1 



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317 



4. Does the sacrifice in the mass benefit the receiver only ; 
and cannot it be offered for others also, as well for the living 
as for the dead, — for their sins, satisfactions, and other 
necessities ? 

5. Are private masses, in which the priest alone communi- 
cates, and not others, unlawful, and to be abolished ? 

6. Is it repugnant to the institution of Christ that water 
be mixed with the wine used in the mass ? 

7. Does the canon of the mass contain errors, and is it to 
be abrogated % 

8. Is the custom of the Koman Church of pronouncing 
secretly, and in a low voice, the words of consecration, to be 
condemned 1 

9. Is the mass not to be celebrated except in the vulgar 
tongue, which all understand 1- 

10. Is it an abuse to appropriate certain masses to certain 
saints ? 

11. Are the ceremonies, vestments, and the other outward 
signs, used by the Church in the celebration of masses, to be 
abolished 1 

12. Is it the same thing for Christ mystically to immolate 
himself for us, and to give us himself to eat ? 

13. Is the mass a sacrifice only of praise and thanksgiving, 
or is it also a propitiatory sacrifice for the living and the 
dead 1 

To these was subjoined a request that the theologians 
should state whether these articles were erroneous, or false, 
or heretical, and to be condemned by the synod. 2 

CHAPTER LXIL 

Discontent of the French Ambassadors. Advice of the Pope. 

While these topics were occupying the attention of the 
theologians, the French ambassadors began to find then- 
position an unsatisfactory one. Since the promulgation of 
the last decree, their jealousy respecting then want of im- 
portance in the synod had increased, and they wrote 
repeatedly to the French court, requesting the presence of a 
greater number of French bishops and theologians, without 



z Sarpi, p. 440, sq. ; Paleotto, p. 183, sq. 



318 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



whom it was impossible either to maintain a satisfactory 
position in the council, or to carry out the instructions they 
had received. In return, it was stated that, by the approach- 
ing September, at least forty fathers would arrive at Trent, 
and the ambassadors besought the legates to postpone the 
session until the meeting should be strengthened by the 
expected addition ; but failed in obtaining their demand. 

Early in August, the pontiff wrote to the legates, directing 
them to yield to the wishes of the emperor, for the conces- 
sion of the cup to the laity ; but they, probably knowing the 
uncertain state of feeling in the council, recommended the 
pontiff to avoid making any such grant a conciliar act, and 
advised that a general declaration only should be made, 
touching the expediency of granting it under certain circum- 
stances, but leaving the decision of the cases to the judgment 
of the Roman pontiff. a Thus did the universal institution of 
Christ become a favour to be bestowed at the option of a 
man ! 

CHAPTER LXIII. 

Congregations respecting the Sacr ifice of the Mass, 

Among other rules which had been made by the legates, 
with the view of expediting the business of the council, it 
had been proposed that each speaker should be limited to 
half an hour. On the very first day, however, Salmeron, the 
pope's theologian, presuming on his position, spent the whole 
space of one congregation in a speech replete with common- 
place. 13 Torres followed him the next day, and was equally 
prolix in repeating the same things ; and the legates were so 
annoyed, both at the concessions advised respecting granting 
the cup, and at the presumption of their conduct in trans- 
gressing the rules of the council, that they resolved to make 
an example of the offenders. In fact, so little authority had 
the determination of the synod to regulate its own proceed- 
ings, that, according to Visconti, in four congregations only 
six individuals had spoken. 

However, some progress in drawing up the doctrine and 

■ Pallav. xvii. 14. 

b Sarpi, p. 528 : u Non pero s' udirono da lui se non cose conimimi, 
le quati non meritano memoria particolare. " 
c Mendham, p. 226. 



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319 



anons of the mass was made, and the theologians were 
nearly unanimous in declaring the mass to be a true sacrifice. 
But on the 24th of July, George d'Ataida, a Portuguese 
divine, delivered a discourse, which, from its near approach 
to the requirements of the Reformers, is too interesting to 
be omitted here. d After allowing the patristic authority for 
considering the mass as a sacrifice, he alleged, that " it must 
certainly be concluded that it hath been so taught by an 
apostolic tradition, the force whereof is more than sufficient 
to make articles of faith, as this council hath maintained 
from the beginning. But this true and solid foundation is 
weakened by those who would build in the air, seeking to find 
in the Scriptures that which is not there, and giving occasion 
to their adversaries to calumniate the truth, while they see it 
grounded upon such an unstable sand." And ' having thus 
spoken, he proceeded to examine, one after another, the 
places of the Old and ±sew Testament alleged* by the divines, 
-howing that no express signification of the sacrifice could be 
drawn from them. To the argument drawn fromMelchizedeck, 
he answered, that Christ was a priest of that order, as he was 
the only-begotten, eternal, without predecessor, father, mother, 
or genealogy. And this is proved, too, plainly by the epistle 
to the Hebrews, where St. Paul, discoursing at large of this 
place, doth handle the eternity and singularity of the priest- 
hood, but maketh no mention of the bread and wine. He 
repeated the argument of St. Augustine, that, when there is 
a fit place for a thing to be spoken, and it is not spoken, an 
argument may be drawn from the authority negatively. Of 
the paschal lamb he said, that it could not be presupposed for 
a thing so evident that it was a sacrifice ; and perhaps to him 
that would take upon him to prove the contrary, the victory 
would necessarily be yielded, and also that it was too hard a 
metaphor to make it a type of the eucharist, and not rather 
of the cross. He commended those theologians who, having 
brought forward that passage of Malachi, added that of St. 
J ohn, to worship in spirit and in truth, because, forsooth, the 

d Pallavicino, xviii. 1, says, that the real speaker was not George 
d'Ataida, but Francesco ForieYo, a Portuguese Dominican. Visconti, in 
a letter of the 27th of July, bears witness to the arguments detailed in 
this speech, but merely mentions that it was spoken by a Portuguese 
theologian. I have chiefly followed Brent's translation, p. 510, sq. 



320 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



one and the other did formally speak of the same thing, and 
were to be expounded alike ; that no difficulty should be 
made concerning the word adore, as it did also certainly 
signify a sacrifice ; and the woman of Samaria took it in the 
general signification. But when Christ added, God is a spirit, 
and will be worshipped in spirit, no man that is not desirous 
of perverting things to an improper sense will say that a 
sacrament, which consists of a thing visible and invisible, is 
purely spiritual, but composed of this and the elementary 
sign. Therefore, he that will explain both those places of 
internal adoration, cannot be convinced, and must have pro- 
bability on his side ; the application being plain, that this is 
offered in all places, and by all nations, and is purely spi- 
ritual, as God is a pure spirit. And he proceeded, and said 
that the words, this is my body which is given for you, mid 
my blood which is shed for you, have a more plain meaning, 
if they be referred to the body and blood in their natural 
essence, than in the sacramental ; as when it is said, Christ 
is the true vine which bring eth forth the wine, it is not meant 
that the significative vine doth bring forth wine, but the 
real. So, also, this is my blood which is shed, doth not signify 
that the sacramental and sacrificial blood was shed, but the 
blood natural and signified. And that which St. Paul saith 
of taking " part in the sacrifice of the J ews and of the table 
of devils," is understood of the rites which God did institute 
by Moses, and of those which the Gentiles did use in sacri- 
ficing j so that it cannot hence be proved that the eucharist 
is a sacrifice : that it is plain in Moses, that, in the votive 
sacrifices, the oblation was all presented to God, and a part 
burnt, which was called the sacrifice, and that what remained 
belonged partly to the priest, and partly to him that offered, 
which they did eat with whom the) pleased ; neither was 
this called to sacrifice, but to participate of the tiling sacri- 
ficed. The Gentiles did imitate the same ; yea, that part 
which was not consumed upon the altar was sent by some to 
be"sold, and this is the table which is not the altar. The plain 
meaning of St. Paul is, that as the Jews, eating the part 
belonging to him that offereth, which is a remainder of the 
sacrifice, do partake of the altar, and the Gentiles likewise ; 
so we, eating the eucharist, are partakers of the sacrifice of 
the cross. And this it is that Christ said, Do this in remem- 



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321 



brance of me, and which St. Paul said, As often as ye shall 
eat of this bread and drink of this cup, ye shall profess that 
the Lord died for you. But whereas it is said that the 
apostles were, by the words of the Lord, ordained priests to 
offer sacrifice, when he said Do this, without doubt it is 
understood of that which they had seen him do. It must, 
therefore, be manifest first that he hath offered ; which can- 
not be, because the opinions of divines are various, and every 
one confesseth that both the one and the other is catholic ; 
and those who deny that Christ hath offered cannot conclude 
by these words that he hath commanded the oblation. He 
then brought forward the arguments of the Protestants, by 
which they maintain that the eucharist is not instituted for 
a sacrifice, but for a sacrament ; and concluded that it could 
not be said that the mass was a sacrifice but by the ground 
of tradition, exhorting them to rest upon this, and not to 
make the truth uncertain by desiring to prove too much. 
He then came to the Protestant arguments; in refuting 
which he gave his hearers little satisfaction; for he recited 
their arguments with force and plausibility, but gave weak 
answers, rather tending to confirm them. Some attributed 
this to the shortness of time which remained until nightfall, 
and others thought he was unable to express himself better ; 
but the greater part believed that he was far from satisfied 
with his own answers 

Hereupon the fathers murmured with great dissatisfaction ; 
and, in the next congregation, Jacopo Pavia, another Portu- 
guese divine, repeated and refuted the arguments of his col- 
league, excusing him as being of really the same mind with 
himself. Strangely enough, the legates were satisfied of his 
having no intention to offend, and that his orthodoxy was 
unshaken. Nevertheless, he quitted Trent a few days after, 
and his name is omitted in the subsequent catalogues of the 
assembly. 

It is impossible to go into the lengthened debates which 
followed. The observance of the mass had been by no means 
regulated by a consistent ritual, but, with some exceptions, 
use and occasion, rather than deliberate decree and prescript, 
had been the only guide. This was strongly urged by 
Antonio of Yaltellina, a Dominican ; who, in describing the 
great variations in the mass, as used in different countries, 

Y 



322 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



maintained that as, even at Rome, the vestments, vessels, and 
other ornaments of the ministers and altars, are so changed 
that, if the ancients should return to the world, they would 
not know them ; that it would be dangerous to enforce the 
observance of the rites practised by the Church of Rome ; and 
he concluded by urging the granting of the cup; by which 
he gave great dissatisfaction. 

Before continuing the debates, it may be well to observe, 
that the Spanish prelates were in a state of great dissatisfac- 
tion at the large majority of the Italians in the council, and 
they wrote to their king, complaining of the non-decision of 
the question of residence, and of the bribery and corruption 
by which the pope swayed the council. The legates, how- 
ever, counterplotted, and sought to ruin the credit of the 
prelates of Granada and Segovia, on the ground of their 
having promised their votes to the bishop of the.Five Churches 
in favour of administering the chalice, without paying any 
respect to his majesty's wishes on the subject. The pope was 
not forgetful of anything calculated to strengthen his power ; 
and, both by means of his legates, and by intrigues with the 
Spanish ambassador, he was prepared to withstand any 
dangerous concessions in the council, or any external attacks 
on the part of the Protestants. 

Another annoyance arose from the fact, that all ambassa- 
dors were compelled to negotiate with the legates only, and 
both the French and Spanish deputies expressed great dissa- 
tisfaction, especially as such restriction was contrary to the 
rule of previous councils. Nevertheless, business proceeded; 
and on the 11th of August the theologians submitted the 
result of their labours, consisting of four lengthy chapters 
and several canons, before a general congregation. Two 
questions were the subject of debate ; the first of which was, 
whether the canons should be preceded by a statement of 
doctrine or not. Some wished the subject of doctrine to be 
altogether omitted ; others wished for a simple declaration, 
unaccompanied by reasons ; but the third and stronger party 
were in favour of clear and solid doctrine, supported by com- 
petent proofs and arguments. The first party observed, that 
as most of the arguments were derived from tradition, the 
heretics would be little likely to yield respect to them, while 
the Catholics stood in no need of any proofs. But the third 



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323 



party maintained that the council appeared in the light of a 
teacher and parent, as well as of a judge, and that they ought 
to be prepared to render an account of the reasons which 
actuated their decree, as well as to seek to win the hearts of 
the heretics by gentleness and argument, rather than to 
exterminate them with the sword. It was therefore deter- 
mined, that a statement of doctrine should be prepared. e 

This dispute was succeeded by the more serious one as to 
whether Christ offered himself up to the Father for the 
redemption of the human race at the Last Supper, or only 
on the cross. Four opinions prevailed on the subject, which 
we will briefly describe, following the notes taken by 
Paleotto. 

The first party held that Christ offered himself at the 
Last Supper j and this opinion, promulgated by Salmeron and 
supported hy him with many passages from the Greek and 
Latin fathers, was embraced by Madrucci and the bishop of 
Otranto ; and the bishop of Rossano alleged that the Germans 
themselves affirmed the same thing in the document entitled 
the Interim. 

Numerous other prelates spoke to the same effect ; but the 
most powerful arguments were brought forward by Diego 
Lainez, the general of the Jesuits, who had arrived from 
Trent on the 23rd of July, and made his first appearance in 
congregation on the 21st of August. Regarding the ques- 
tion as matter of fact, to be decided by testimony, he ap- 
pealed to upwards of forty ancient and modern writers, 
Greek and Latin, in defence of the sacrificial character of 
Christ's act in the Last Supper. After entering into expla- 
nations of the passages of Scripture bearing upon the 
question, he proceeded to refute the assertion that it dero- 
gates from the dignity of the sacrifice on the cross. He 
urged, that the omnipotent acts of Christ had ever benefited 
man, and that the death on the cross ought not to claim the 
whole credit of our salvation, although it was to be regarded 
as the great and crowning act of Christ's ministry in our 
behalf, and as not consisting in one act only, but embracing 
numberless others of infinite mercy. f 

e Paleotto, pp. 193-6. 

f Paleotto, p. 200 ; Pallav. xviii. 2. The latter author enters into a 
hearty panegyric of his brother- Jesuit. 

y2 



324 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



The contrary opinion was maintained by the archbishops 
of Granada, Braga, and Lanciano, and by four other prelates, 
who held that the sacrifice at the Last Supper was eucharistic 
only. The details of the different speeches need not be 
repeated. 

The third party amalgamated these two contrary opinions, 
and advised that in the doctrine it should be stated that 
Christ offered himself up at the Last Supper, but that no 
mention should be made as to the manner in which he did so. 
As in the former disputes on transubstantiation, so on this 
occasion, room was left open for the wranglings of schoolmen ; 
and while the Protestants were anathematized for not be- 
lieving what the other party themselves did not understand, 
Catholicism was left in free possession of her own incon- 
sistencies, and was privileged to believe after its own fashion, 
provided it believed what the Church enjoined* 

An attempt was then made in favour of celebrating the 
mass in the vulgar tongue, and precedents were alleged to 
support the propriety of changing the present system. But 
little good- will was shown to this most necessary act of reform, 
and it fell to the ground unheeded. 

CHAPTER LXIY. 

Discussions respecting the Grant of the Chalice. 

Meanwhile, the question of administering the chalice was 
also debated with great activity, the ambassadors of the 
emperor being vehement in their demands for its concession 
to Bohemia, Hungary, and the German states. After much 
had been urged respecting the danger of denying, and the 
many advantages of granting the cup, and after reference had 
been made to previous instances in which that concession had 
proved beneficial to the unity of the Church, the following 
document was submitted to the fathers for consideration : — 

" Article the first. — Ought communion under both kinds, 
as requested in the name of his most sacred majesty the 
emperor, on behalf of the whole Roman empire, in as far as 
it contains all Germany, as well as on behalf of the king- 
doms of Bohemia and Hungary, and archduchy of Austria, 
and likewise all other provinces of his imperial majesty, to 
be granted by the holy synod, under the following conditions? 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



325 



" 1. That those wishing to communicate under both kinds 
should in all other matters, both as regards this and the 
other sacraments, as well as in every other matter of faith, 
doctrine, and ritual, agree with all the doctrines received by 
the holy Roman Church ; and likewise religiously admit 
and observe all the decrees promulgated by this holy synod. 

2.- That pastors and preachers of the aforesaid nations 
shall believe and teach that the custom of communicating 
under one kind only, which has been approved and long 
observed by the Church, is praiseworthy, and to be observed 
as a law, except it be otherwise determined by the Church ; 
and that those who persist in thinking differently are to be 
esteemed as heretics ; and that they shall not administer this 
communion under both kinds save to those who believe and 
have confessed this truth. 

" 3'. That they are bound, as respectful sons, to display with 
a faithful and sincere heart all manner of obedience and 
reverence to our most holy lord the pope, as lawful bishop 
and master of the universal Church. 

" 4. That they accord the obedience and reverence, simi- 
larly due, to archbishops, bishops, and their other prelates. 

u 5. That this use of the cup be only permitted to those 
who have displayed contrition, and have been confessed 
according to the custom of the Catholic Church. Also, that 
ordinaries provide most diligently and with all manner of 
caution, that in the administration of the blood no sacrilege 
or profanation take placets 

The second article was to this effect : " Is this power to be 
intrusted to the archbishops and bishops of the aforesaid 
places, to wit, that any of them, as a delegate of the Apostolic 
See, shall be able to permit the curates of churches within his 
diocese to commimicate under both kinds to those who seek 
it, in the said churches, but under the aforesaid conditions?" 

CHAPTER LXY. 

Debates on the Grant of the Cup. 

On the 28th of August, 1562, some important debates took 
place with reference to the above propositions. The bishop 



g Paleotto, p. 221, sq. 



326 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



of the Five Churches observed, that the circumstances of the 
present time demanded the most diligent and impartial con- 
sideration, and that the grant of the cup, so often urged by 
the emperor, was a question involving the fidelity of a large 
portion of the imperial party to the Catholic Church. He 
represented that they had only abstained from defection, 
under the promise that their wishes on this subject should be 
attended to in a short time. He then urged that " it had 
always been the right of the Church to make changes in 
matters appertaining to its jurisdiction, that is to say, in such 
matters as, without detriment to faith, might be changed 
according to the exigences of circumstances. Thus, in this 
present instance, the law abrogating the communion of the 
chalice was not brought in until the Council of Constance, 
and that with the view of meeting many inconveniences and 
heresies which had arisen ; that this law had been soon after 
set aside by another council, restored again by Pius II. ; 
while Paul III. and Julius III. had granted permission to 
restore the old system. After enumerating various instances 
in which the use of the chalice had either been granted or 
connived at, he woimd up an able oration by setting forth 
the great prospects of peace and unity which seemed likely 
to result from the proposed concession, and the alienation of 
whole kingdoms and provinces from their allegiance to the 
Roman see, which must be the inevitable consequence of per- 
sisting in retaining a custom, which, both by nature and 
reason, admitted of change according to circumstances." 11 

The patriarch of Jerusalem, followed by some other pre- 
lates, was profuse in his compliments to the piety and good- 
will of Ferdinand, but asserted that the proposed grant of 
the cup involved great danger, inasmuch as they were by no 
means certain that the piety, faith, and humility of those 
who demanded it were to be relied on as sufficient to deserve 
such concession. He alleged that the very reasons which had 
induced the fathers of the Comicil of Constance to withdraw 
the use of the chalice still remained in force ; that the con- 
cessions made previously had been fruitless ; and further- 
more, that there was great reason to fear, that the grant of 

h Paleotto, pp. 224-9. Cf. Le Plat, t. v. p. 467, sqq., where the 
speech bears date Sept. 2, and varies in other respects. See, also, 
Pallav. xviii. 3. 



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327 



the cup might countenance the idle spread and heretical 
belief, that as much was not contained under one kind as 
under both. 

The archbishop of Granada, while inclining to the opinion of 
the bishop of the Five Churches, was at the same time desirous 
that the question should be further considered. But the 
archbishop of Bossano, after repeating the danger lest the 
Nestorian heresy, which denied that as much is contained 
under one species as under both, should be revived, pro- 
ceeded to enlarge upon the danger and sacrilege presumed to 
result from the accidental spilling of the most sacred blood 
in the eucharist ; the difficulty of preserving it from turning 
sour, and added, that, in many populous parishes, on a festival, 
the difficulty of procuring sufficient wine would be incal- 
culable. Nor did he think that the conditions, under which 
it was proposed to permit the use of the chalice, were 
sufficient to protect that authority of the synod, since, 
whether they were observed or not, the decree of the council 
would still remain to posterity, fixed, as it were, to the 
pillars of the universal Church. He concluded by recom- 
mending that the whole matter should be left to the judg- 
ment of the supreme pontiff, whose decision respecting its 
being permitted in particular cases was safer than a conciliar 
decision embracing the whole world. 

The archbishop of Braga alleged that four sorts of men 
seemed to be concerned in the question at issue : the Catho- 
lics, who did not require the use of the chalice ; those openly 
professing heresy, who neither sought it, nor ought to 
receive it, if they did j those who are heretics at heart, and 
yet pretend to be pious Catholics, and to whom, as their 
desire for the cup arose from a desire to curry favour with the 
emperor or other princes, no concessions ought to be made ; 
and a fourth party, who were uniform in faith, and did not 
steadfastly cling to the Catholic doctrine and dogmas. To 
this latter party he thought there was even less reason for 
making concessions, since they erred in not believing that 
Christ is wholly contained under one species. 

The archbishop of Lanciano maintained the very reverse 
opinion, holding that the infirm were those whom it most 
became the council to consider. He alleged the permission 
given by Paul to Timothy to be circumcised, and the letter 



328 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



of St. Gregory permitting the marriage of clerks in a parti- 
cular district. 

The archbishop of Philadelphia, and suffragan of the bishop 
of Eristat, confessed that there might be danger in refusing ; 
but that there would be greater risk in granting, the request 
made for the chalice ; and that it was the duty of the synod 
to cling to the practice of the universal Church, and to treat 
innovations with abhorrence. 

The archbishop of Chiozza, in a curiously categorical 
speech, remarked that the question appeared to resolve itself 
under six points : 1st, What was the thing sought ? — and he 
held that it was a thing not only good in its kind, but even 
in a certain wise commanded by the law. 2ndly, By whom 1 — 
and he held that the good deserts of the emperor in reference 
to the Catholic religion were sufficient assurance on that head. 
3rdly, as to the persons for whom it was sought. Those, he 
observed, were not to be looked upon as enemies, who ac- 
knowledged neither the Church, the pontiff, nor the synod, but 
as Catholics, who craved for the chalice, not because they 
believed it to be necessary, but because it would be a means 
of peace and unity with their brethren, and ultimately of 
their being re-established in the Catholic faith. 4thly, as to 
whom was made the request? On this he observed, that 
although it was asked of the synod, yet the request was 
virtually made to the pontiff, as head of the synod, without 
whose assent the decrees of the synod could have no force; 
and that their request was therefore tantamount to a direct 
appeal to the pope, whose part it was to determine such 
matters. 5thly, as to the conditions under which it was 
demanded; they were such, that, if they were not observed, 
the concessions must be accounted void. Othly, as to the time 
and occasion. He repeated that this was the most important 
matter of all, and that it was of serious importance to reflect 
whether the heretics might not take advantage of such a 
concession on the part of the Church, and increase their 
demands to an even absurd extent. " But," he concluded, 
u there are, nevertheless, three reasons which incline me to 
wish this concession made. 1st, Christian charity ; 2ndly, 
the authority of his imperial majesty, whose great piety and 
religion compel us to believe that, in making this request, he 
was actuated by the best wishes for the welfare of the Church ;, 



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329 



and, 3rdly, the like concession previously made to the 
Bohemians by the Council of Basle, subsequently confirmed, 
and under as easy conditions as those now demanded by 
Paul HL" 1 

It would be impossible to enter into the details of the various 
arguments, which Paleotto had so accurately and patiently 
digested ; but, as Mendham k observes, we must observe 
throughout them " such an absence of legitimate and scrip- 
tural reasoning, that it will be deemed sufficient to say, that 
there was some variation in their sentiments." The address, 
however, of the concluding speaker, Diego Lainez, deserves 
notice. After totally rejecting the grant of the chalice, and 
alleging that the emperor was to be considered, in this 
respect, not as the protector, but as the son of the Church, 
and that obedience was therefore his first duty, he wound up 
by saying : " Let us not fear, O fathers, that even if the aid 
of human princes desert us, that God, whose cause is at stake, 
will be wanting to us ; since we, with intrepid faith, ever 
remember that the most holy Church, founded on the most 
precious blood of his Son, although it may be reduced to a 
small number, shall never perish." 

The remarks of our accurate eye-witness and reporter of 
these debates, Paleotto, cannot here be omitted. " It seemed 
wonderful," says he, " that so many fathers on both sides, 
famed for their erudition, prudence, and integrity of life, 
should have been so inconsistent with each other, that, were 
their authority to receive attention, the mind would be left 
in utter suspense. For instance, there were but two French 
prelates present ; and of these, the archbishop of Paris took 
one view of the subject, the bishop of Lavaus another. What 
shall I say of the bishop of Philadelphia, who, being mature 
in years and of remarkable reputation for uprightness, had 
great influence in impugning the concession of the chalice ? 
Touching him of Segovia, I have already said that he changed 
his opinion immediately upon hearing the remarks of Hosius. 
Again, the bishop of Lavenmuntz, also a German prelate, 
when the question was first mooted immediately left for 
Germany ; while he of Ceneda advocated one view in the 
council, another in his private conversations with the prelates. 



Paleotto, p. 232, sq. 



k P. 232. 



330 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Other proctors, moreover, of German prelates, in their own 
familiar conversation, proved their sense of the injustice of 
the petition, although, not having a vote, it was impossible 
for them to make known their opinions. 1 Many other mat- 
ters of no trifling importance happened ; for when the bishop 
of the Five Churches, who had the greatest anxiety for the 
welfare of the empire, after having, as above detailed, done 
all in his power to conciliate the minds of the fathers to 
Ferdinand, he of Caorla, who took the extreme reverse 
opinion, when it came to his turn to speak, brought forward 
two arguments against the former speaker, by which he 
showed his great anxiety for the reputation of the holy 
synod. One was, that, if the cup be denied, the pros- 
perous progress of the council would be hindered : another 
was, his own constant attendance at the discussions of the 
council, when so many of those whom it most concerned 
were systematically absent. 

" Moreover, among the abbots who delivered their opinions, 
a certain canon, Eicardo de Vercelli m by name, defended the 
refusal of the chalice with so much ardour as to declare that 
the demand for it savoured of heresy, and to volunteer to 
prove this by arguments. On his continuing to speak, the 
cardinal of Mantua rebuked him with great severity, and 
bade him cease talking so absurdly ; for, seeing that this 
proposition had been set forth by the legates, it was an 
offence to their dignity to style it heretical. On his still 
continuing to speak, the cardinal bade him be silent. After 
the next speaker had finished, he straightway left his seat, 
went to the legates, and asked pardon for anything that he 
might have spoken inconsiderately, at the same time asking 
permission to lay open his real intentions to the whole synod. 
Having obtained leave, he retracted his former assertions, 
and all perceived that his mistake had arisen rather from 
ignorant simplicity than from evil intention." 11 

Following the same excellent guide, I will now briefly 

1 Waterworth, p. cxcii. m Cf. Sarpi, p. 460. 

n Paleotto, pp. 238-40. "This fact," observes Mendham, " is men- 
tioned more strongly by Visconti in a letter of the 7th of September, 
where he calls him general of the order, and makes him say that the 
demand of the cup savoured not only of heresy but of mortal sin. — 
Mendham, p. 233, note. Paleotto's account differs from those of Palla- 
vicino and Sarpi (cf. Courayer, t. ii. p. 306, n. 80), but seems, on the 
whole, more like the correct one. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



331 



sum up the reasons alleged on both sides. He gives them 
as follows : — 

For the grant of the chalice. — 1. The constant custom of 
the early Church for upwards of twelve hundred years, and 
the silence of the fathers as to any denial of the chalice. 2. 
That it is a pure rite, which the Church has the power to 
alter, as was shown by the conduct of the Council of Con- 
stance ; and that it may therefore be changed now in the 
reverse way. 3. The consent of Paul III. and other instances 
before alleged. 4. The request of the emperor. 5. The 
character of the conditions under which it is to be granted, 
o. The example of the Greek Church, and the fact that no 
warranty is thence derived for fears as to the spilling of the 
blood. 7. The certain destruction of many nations, and the 
ill-will which will be excited against the Catholics, if the 
chalice be refused ; also the consent of the nuncio Canisio, 
or of the pope himself, in regard to those places. 8. The 
fear of the council being disturbed by Germany, and being 
harassed by war and seditions. 9. The fact that, if the per- 
mission be abused, it can be withdrawn, consistently with its 
conditions. 10. The changes made in various similar rites 
from time to time, and the advantage of such concessions in 
promoting unity. 11. The consolation of reflecting that, 
whatever may be the result, the council will have done all in 
their power to promote a pure and holy reunion, and the 
satisfactory refutation of the malice of its opponents. 
12. The debate yet existing among theologians, whether 
more grace is acquired by receiving the communion under 
both kinds than under one only. Thus he who seeks it 
under both chooses the safest way; and to hinder him from 
so doing is to inflict an injury. 

Reasons against the concession. — 1. The great scandal 
which will arise among other Catholic nations, and even in 
some parts of Germany, if the excellent institution of the 
Church touching the denial of the use of the cup be departed 
from. 2. The danger of the demand spreading among other 
nations less Catholic, and which will proceed to other 
demands. 3. The fact that the conditions imposed at the 
Council of Constance, and afterwards in the time of Paul III., 
had not been observed. 4. That it would lead to a like 
demand for the marriage of priests, and the use of meat. In 
fact, the present demands show that these three points hang 



332 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



closely together. 5. The insufficiency of the reasons by 
which the Church was formerly led to communicate under 
both kinds, and the existence of the same reasons by which 
the Council of Constance was induced to restrict the laity to 
one. 6. Because they expect more of the divine aid from 
both kinds than one, which is heretical ; and because, even 
if the conditions compelled them to maintain the contrary, 
the protest itself will be absurd. 7. That if they b& 
heretical in other respects, this cannot be granted to them, 
without evidence of their renunciation of error ; and if they 
become Catholics, they cannot insist upon this one point, 
save only from a captious obstinacy ; seeing that it in nowise 
concerns their salvation. 8. The fear of spilling the blood, 
and of sacrilege, which can never be thoroughly avoided, 
especially on such days as Easter, when great multitudes are 
present ; the great quantity of wine, which neither can nor 
ought to be consecrated ; and the danger of administering 
wine to the aged and the paralyzed. 9. The danger of innova- 
tion. 10. The fact that so many really Catholic nations had 
never made any such demand, and the certainty that it must 
therefore proceed not from the love of God, but from hos- 
tility to the Church. 11. That if such concession is to be 
made, it should be made by the sovereign pontiff, who, by 
means of his legates, nuncios, and ministers, can obtain correct 
information as to the manners, disposition, and faith of those 
who seek it. But that it is unsafe for the fathers of the 
synod , having scarcely any knowledge of these nations, to 
grant such permission, seeing that they neither know to 
whom it is to be granted, how far they may be trusted, and 
what may be hoped from them. 12. Heresies touching this 
sacrament were never so numerous as at the present time; 
and if any change be made,, some heresy will derive fresh 
strength, and the ignorant will be persuaded that other points 
of this sacrament may be changed, and that what has been 
hitherto defended is not firm. Heretics have no greater 
wish than to sever the unity of the Church by various arts. 
Moreover, all novelties are to be shunned, and we must hold 
to ancient tradition as the safer rule. 

He then enumerated the conditions to be annexed, if the^ 
communion under both kinds be at any time granted, which 
have been already described. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



333 



Upon taking the votes, they were to the following effect : 
fourteen prelates recommended that the matter should be 
delayed ; thirty-eight plainly denied it ; thirty granted it ; 
twenty-four wished it to be referred to the will of the pope ; 
thirty-one approved of the decree for the concession, but 
wished the execution thereof to be left to the pope ; eleven 
were doubtful ; eighteen wished to limit the grant to 
Bohemia and Hungary. 

CHAPTER LXVI. 

Debates respecting the Mass. 

We must not lose sight of the discussions respecting the 
mass, which had meanwhile been going on. On the 7th of 
September, the canons and decrees relating to this doctrine 
were formally laid before the assembled fathers. The arch- 
bishop of Granada took exception to the application of the 
text in the third canon, " Do this in remembrance of me, 5 ' 
-alleging that not only did the question relative to the ordi- 
nation of priests more properly belong to the sacrament of 
Order, but that many great authorities referred the institution 
of orders to the words " Receive ye the Holy Ghost." Many 
expected that a long dispute would follow ; but, adds 
Paleotto, "it pleased the divine goodness that others, who 
spoke on the opposite side, were brief; and although one? 
enlarged in rather a troublesome manner upon the popular 
superstition, which might seem to be sanctioned by what is 
said of the effects of the sacrificial mass, yet the majority 
approved of the doctrine proposed with wonderful consent, 
and were filled with joy both at the effect and the brevity of 
the discussion, ascribing the whole to the present grace of 
the Holy Spirit." 4 

"But," continues the same authority, "as Satan never 
ceases to scatter abroad the seeds of discord, and to dissolve 
what has been well settled, to the utmost of his power, it 
seemed good to four Spanish bishops, viz. those of Granada, 

° According to the order above quoted, but second in those after- 
wards published. 

p Yiz. the bishop of Segovia, on account of the words ( ' and other 
necessities " in the fourth (third published) canon, 
i Mendham, p. 229. 



334 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Braga, Segovia, and Alnieria, to demand a private audience 
of the legates the following day. Here they declared that 
they were urged both by their own official duties and by the 
stings of conscience to open their minds and declare that 
they could never bring themselves to approve of the promul- 
gation of the third canon in the present session : first, 
because it had not been, as was customary, discussed before- 
hand by the minor theologians ; secondly, because the fathers 
themselves had consulted authorities in a very imperfect 
manner ; and thirdly, because the fathers themselves were 
at great variance, many of them wishing the discussion to be 
postponed till the sacrament of Order should be treated of — 
an opinion in which they themselves coincided. The legate 
Hosius, who had committed himself by some writings on the 
same subject, opposed them, but in very moderate terms; 
while the other legates, although feeling restricted to observe 
the wishes of the synod on the subject, seemed favourable to 
the proposed delay. 

But the day before the session, September 16th, when 
almost every matter seemed fully discussed and settled, and 
the fathers were preparing to leave, the archbishop of Granada 
commenced a vehement attack upon the same canon to which 
he had previously objected, and alleged that Dionysius, 
Maximus, and Chrysostom were opposed to it, inasmuch as 
they assigned the sacerdotal ordination of the apostles not to 
the Last Supper, but the day of Pentecost. He exhorted 
them, therefore, to defer the examination of this point till 
the next session ; and a violent confusion arose. Hosius 
attempted to pacify the disturbance, by distinguishing into 
two parts the power conferred upon the apostles ; one of 
which, touching the real body of Christ, he alleged was given 
them at the Last Supper ; the other, concerning Ins mystical 
body, on the day of Pentecost. The bishop of Tortose, who 
had perhaps foreseen this dispute, read a digest of authorities 
in defence of the obnoxious canon, and was supported by 
some other prelates. The tumult, however, increased ; and it 
was only by the management of two of the legates that the 
dispute was brought to a peaceable termination. " The 
means," however, " did not escape without censure ; for 
Simonetta seems to have expressed himself as relying upon 
the obstinacy of those who favoured the canon to an extent 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



335 



which might be interpreted to imply, that they were perfect 
proof against any opposing arguments, however conclusive 
and convincing. So far the business of the council had pro-- 
ceeded relative to the mass." r 

CHAPTER LXVII. 

The Disputes respecting the Grant of the Chalice resumed. 

We have already s seen the doubtful state of the suffrages 
of the fathers relative to the question of administering the 
communion under both kinds, as well as the grounds urged 
on both sides. Nor can we fail to perceive how closely in- 
terested the papal adherents were in the denial of any such 
grant, save under such conditions as might render it a matter, 
not of ecclesiastical law and recognition, but of condescension 
on the part of the papal see. Let us now return to the bishop 
of the Five Churches, who, as ambassador from the emperor, 
had every reason to feel much embarassed at the uncertain 
state of the dispute, and the doubtful character of any con- 
cessions he might hope to gain. 

On fie ding the diversity of opinions on the subject, he 
pressed the legates to refer the matter to the pope, recom- 
mending them at the same time to secure the consent of his 
holiness to the grant of the cup under the conditions annexed. 
The legates feared that, unless some attention was paid to the 
wishes of the ambassador, he, and with him the German 
party, would raise objections to the decrees respecting the 
sacrifice of the mass. They accordingly directed the auditor 
to draw up a form of decree, which, while agreeable to the 
opinion of the fathers, should at the same time satisfy the 
ambassador. 

This was done ;* but it did not gain the approbation of the 
ambassador ; and another was prepared, the main purport of 
which was as follows : " That whereas it seemed impossible 
for such a matter to be settled and defined at present, the 
council had thought fit to refer it to the judgment of the 
pontiff, to the end that he might, after the necessary inquiries, 
permit the use of the chalice to such nations and people as 
he judges fitting and useful, under the annexed conditions, or 



r Mendham, p. 230, sq. s End of ch. lxv. 

x This will be found in Paleotto, p. 248, sq. 



346 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



such others as the Holy Spirit should suggest to him ; such 
concessions being according to the wish, advice, and approval 
of the most holy synod." u 

But the fathers were too careful of the interests of the pope- 
dom to consent to a measure which gave the council even a 
discretionary right of judgment over the actions of the 
pontiff. It was accordingly thrown out by a majority of 
ten, on the loth of September, and the president drew up a 
decree couched in simple terms of reference to the Roman 
pontiff. This document, which appears in its final form at 
the end of the seventy-second session, was carried on the 
1 7th, x thirty-eight voting against it, and ninety-eight deciding 
in its favour. 

CHAPTER LXVIII. 

Reformation. Abuses of the Mass, 

At the same time (i. e. September 7th) on which the 
canons of the mass had been presented, those on reformation 
were also laid before the fathers. A long memorial, sent 
from the emperor, was also read, and the legates, in order to 
show due respect to Ferdinand, extracted from it two points 
to be proposed to the fathers : the first, relative to the dis- 
cipline and costume of clerks ; the other to the manner of 
celebrating divine offices, which was referred to the head of 
abuses of the mass, of which we shall speak hereafter. y. 

The decrees on reformation were at first fourteen in num- 
ber; but the third and fourth of these, regulating the pensions 
to be imposed on bishops and parish priests, were struck out, 
as referring to what the council held to be a monstrous abuse 
under any form. The subject, however, presented some 
difficulties, and caused considerable discussion. The ninth 
decree, which limited the jurisdiction of the ordinary in the 

u Paleotto, p. 250. Waterworth merely states that it was con- 
demned, but gives no glimpse of the reason why. 

x So Pallav. xviii. 7. Paleotto, who is followed by Mendham, says 
the 16th. There is the same difference as to the day of the session 
itself. It may be observed, that this was not the only hinderance that 
seemed likely to interfere with the progress of matters. Lanssac was 
urgent that the session should be prorogued until the arrival of the 
French bishops ; a proposal, however, to which neither legates nor 
fathers were favourable. 

y Paleotto, p. 255. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



337 



hearing of certain cases, which involved a sum beyond the 
amount prescribed by the Council of Lateran, was also 
omitted. The remaining eleven decrees, the first of which 
was framed with an express reference to the wishes of 
Ferdinand, were left, with some unimportant variations, in 
the form in which they appear in the published editions. 

An elaborate document, consisting of eight chapters, was 
framed concerning the abuses of the mass. But it was 
thought, upon deliberation, more advisable to leave minute 
points of observance and discipline to the judgment of the 
ordinaries, agreeably to the circumstances and requirements 
of their churches ; and a more general statement was there- 
fore drawn up, in which the subject was treated under the 
three heads of covetousness, irreverence, and superstition. 
A few points, however, which excited some discussion, seem 
to deserve notice. 

One party was desirous that what are called " missse siccae," 
that is, masses in which all the rites are observed except 
consecration, should be abolished ; but, upon farther consi- 
deration, they determined to make no innovation ; both because 
their use appeared to be sanctioned in the sacerdotal books, 
and because, in maritime excursions, the requisites of the 
sacrament could not always be obtained, and therefore the 
bare memorial is of importance ; and further, in many places, 
the ministry necessary to consecration was not safe. It was 
therefore thought unwise to prohibit the only possible sub- 
stitute to be found on such occasions. 

Another more curious question arose, as to the propriety 
of burying bodies near the altars where mass was celebrated; 
but as there were no definite rules laid down on the subject, 
and as, if any such rule were now instituted, many sepulchres, 
and amongst them some of the most magnificent, would have 
to be destroyed or removed — an interference with which 
families, who possessed distinguished ancestors, would be ill 
satisfied — it was abandoned. 

In this proposal we can almost perceive a dawning of that 
same feeling which afterwards animated the tasteless and 
rabid zeal of the Puritans ; and we must feel rejoiced at the 
good sense which prevented so unholy an invasion of the 
rights of the dead, upon the strength of a mere superstition, 
and to the destruction of many noble works of art. But the 

z 



338 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



proposal to abolish music in churches was still more redolent 
of a similar feeling j and no one, who has compared the 
difference of a service unaccompanied by music, and even the 
simplest parochial service in our own churches, will feel 
surprised that it was promptly negatived. Certain fitting 
restrictions, however, as to the style and character of the 
music to be introduced during divine service, and a precept 
forbidding either the organist or the choir to indulge in 
light and incongruous strains, were inserted in the decree 
respecting the celebration of the mass. 

CHAPTER LXIX. 

Letters of Visconti. 

Visconti, in the ciphered portion of a letter bearing date 
the 4th of September, alludes to the wish of Lanssac, that 
the session should not meet till the 20th of October, when 
he expected twenty theologians to arrive from Paris ; and 
he adds, that the French prelates were bent upon agitating 
the question whether the pope was, or was not, superior to 
the council. The Spaniards would join them in this attempt ; 
and he had been told by one of the legates that the cardinal 
of Lorraine always discovered a wish to disturb and diminish 
the authority of the Apostolic See, and to do all in his power 
that the sacred college should not continue the influence 
which it possessed in the pontificate. 2 

" It may be proper," continues Mendham, u here to refer 
to the letter immediately preceding, of the 3rd of September, 
which recognises not only the meeting of a German diet, 
which was always a formidable thing, at Frankfort, but 
another fact or speculation of more importance. The writer 
was in the confidence and knew the mind of his holiness 
sufficiently well. He repeats the report, that the prolonga- 
tion of the council would finally produce some impediment 
to the object desired ; and he had reason to fear that event 
from the prolixity of speech in which the prelates indulged 
themselves. He accordingly suggests the advantage which 
may be taken from the scarcity of grain then prevailing ; 
that since neither the suspension nor the translation of the 

2 Mendham, p. 225, sq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



339 



council was feasible, when the prelates begin to complain 
of the scarcity, which cannot be considered as produced 
artificially, his holiness may call the council to himself, 
stating, that he desires to be present in it ; and it is probable 
if this were proposed, that all the prelates, except the ultra- 
montanists, would consent." 

CHAPTEE LXX. 

TJie Twenty-second Session. 

On the 18th a of September, 1562, the twenty-second session 
was opened with the customary ceremonies, mass being cele- 
brated by Pietrantonio di Capona, archbishop of Otranto, 
and the sermon preached by Visconti, bishop of Ventimiglia. 
A few of the old objections were revived ; but the only 
matter of real importance was the protest of the bishop of 
Segovia, " remarkable," as Mendham observes, 1 * "not only 
for its good reasoning, but for adducing a passage as forming 
a part of the decree which does not appear in the present 
copies of it. — 6 Likewise what is amrmed in the doctrine, 
that by this most holy offering, and unbloody sacrifice of the 
altar all the sacrifices of nature and the law are per- 
fected and consummated, is disapproved, as well because it 
derogates much from the bloody sacrifice of the cross, which 
was the fulfilment of all that was figured, arid of which that 
venerable sacrifice of the altar is commemorative, and from 
which alone it derives its force ; and also, because neither Scrip- 
ture nor legitimate tradition affirms this. 5 " The decree on the 
concession of the chalice also excited considerable opposition, 
both absolutely and in particular respects. The last decree, 
appointing the 19th of November for the .next session, was 
carried without opposition. 

Visconti, in a letter bearing the date of the session, ex- 
presses great delight at the manner in which it terminated, and 
expresses his thanks to God at the comparative unity of feeling 
with which the canons and decrees had been received. He 
adds, that when the printing of the decrees was contem- 
plated, he intimated to the legates that it was unadvisable to 
print them. This, while it shows the great influence he must 



a According to Pallavicino's dating. 

z 2 



b P. 239. 



340 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



have possessed in the council, also accounts, in a manner, for 
the omission of the clause above referred to. Nevertheless, 
there does not seem adequate reason for believing that much 
alteration was made in the published decrees from those read 
at the sessions. 

As the synod was dismissed after the usual manner, great 
discourses took place between the fathers touching the con- 
tinuation of the communion under both kinds. " Concerning 
which," says Sarpi, c " some perhaps will be curious to know, 
for what cause the decree last recited was not put after that 
of the mass, as the matter seemeth to require, but in a place 
where it hath no connection or likeness with the article 
preceding. He may know that there was a general maxim 
in that council, that to establish a decree of reformation, a 
majority of voices was sufficient, but that a decree of faith 
could not be made if a considerable part contradicted. There- 
fore the legates, knowing that hardly more than half would 
consent to this of the chalice, resolved to make it an article 
of reformation, and to place it last among these, to show 
plainly that they held it to be of that rank." 

The emperor s ambassadors felt pleased with the tenor of 
the decree, hoping that Ferdinand would more easily obtain 
the concession of the chalice from the pope, and upon more 
satisfactory conditions, than it would from the council; 
"but," continues Father Paul, "the emperor had not the 
same opinion, aiming not to obtain the communion of the 
cup absolutely, but to pacify the people of his own states and 
of Germany, who, being dissatisfied with the pope's authority 
for the things past, could not well relish anything that pro- 
ceeded from him ; whereas, if they had obtained this grant 
immediately from the council, it world have given them good 
satisfaction, and led them to believe that they might have 
obtained other requests ; so that this motion being stopped, 
and the infected ministers cashiered, he hoped he might have 
held them in the Catholic communion. He saw, by former 
experience, that the grant of Paul was not well received, and 
did more harm than good ; and, for this cause, he prosecuted 
the matter no more with the pope, and declared the cause 



c P. 538, Brent. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



341 



of it. Therefore, when he received news of the decree of the 
council, turning to some prelates who were with him, he 
said, c I have done all I can to save my people ; now look 
you unto it, whom it doth more concern.' " 

But still greater dissatisfaction arose among those nations, 
who, relying on the simple justice of their demand, found 
that, after being referred by the pope to a council, they were 
again sent back by the council to the pope, and that they 
were as far off as ever from what they had every right to 
expect. The juggling character of the whole proceedings 
was too evident to leave much faith in the council ; and it 
becomes matter of surprise that so impudent a tampering 
with the common privileges of Christians, avowedly in the 
face even of tradition, and calculated to reassert the worst 
and most insolent claims of the Roman pontiff, did not give 
rise to acts of open aggression on the part of those, who had 
patiently waited for the entire sacrament, of which they had 
been so long and so unwarrantably defrauded. 

On the other hand, Pius TV. had every reason to congra- 
tulate himself on the termination of the session in a measure 
which made the council confessedly subject to his authority, 
and which silenced the fears as to that authority becoming a 
subject of question. He began to hope that the disputes 
respecting residence, or any other troublesome subject, would 
be referred to the same infallible tribunal, arid that a way 
would be paved for hushing all contentions, and for bringing 
the council to a speedy conclusion. But two difficulties still 
harassed him. One was, the determinate conduct of the 
cardinal of Lorraine, who, it has been said by Visconti, 
meditated demanding the use of the chalice for France, and 
likewise the removal of images, besides being generally and 
openly adverse to the papal interests. 01 In order to counter- 
act this mischievous influence, he urged the transmontane 
bishops, even those who had renounced the dignity, to pro- 
ceed to Trent, and was liberal in his provisions for their 
support and his promises. On the other hand, the uncertain 
conduct of the princes caused him great trouble. They 
seemed to wish the council to go on to no purpose. Such 



d Sarpi, p. 4/2. 



342 THE HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT. 

was the case especially with the emperor ; while the king of 
France seemed desirous to give satisfaction even to the 
Huguenots. Another troublesome person was the bishop of 
the Five Churches, who assembled the French, Portuguese, and 
Swiss ambassadors, and tried to persuade them to insist on 
the matter of reform and to postpone doctrine, " since," says 
Yisconti, e " the incredulous and obstinate would not be 
induced to make any change, and the Catholics had no need 
of further instruction." 



e In Mendham, p. 240. 



PART THE FOURTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

Demands of the A mbassadors. 

" The present session," observes Paleotto, " is especially 
memorable, on account of the serious disputes and dangers 
which transpired during its progress ; for it was prorogued 
eight times, an event that never happened on any other 
occasion ; for eight months it was continually harassed by 
the most violent disputes, and during that period, besides 
the death of two of the most illustrious legates, so many 
unexpected events took place as it would be no easy task to 
recount. 5 ' a 

But before we attempt to detail the proceedings of the 
session itself, it will be well to take notice of the discontent 
evidently excited in the mind of the French king. His 
ambassadors, just after the termination of the last session, 
received notice that, while he approved of what had been 
laid down by the fathers touching the sacrifice of the mass, 
he felt that — as far as the adversaries for whose sake the 
council was chiefly assembled, and seeing that they had 
neither been present at, nor had declared their sentiments 
in, the council — the synod might be looked upon as fighting 
with a shadow, and that it was easy for the prelates to 
settle what no one was present to oppose. To the end, 
therefore, that all suspicion might hereafter be removed, he 
expressed his desire that any further consideration of doctrine 
might be postponed until the arrival of the French, German, 
and Polish prelates, who were expected shortly. Meanwhile 
he advised the fathers to give their deepest attention to 
matters calculated to strengthen the discipline of the Church, 

a Mendham compares the somewhat similar opening of the Histories 
of Tacitus. Livy's second Decade opens in much the same manner. 



344 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



and to bestow all possible pains on that reformation which 
alone could confer credit on the synod. 15 

The legates replied, that they were willing to pay imme- 
diate attention to the subject of reform, and even requested 
the ambassadors to furnish them with a copy of their instruc- 
tions, to the end that they might give greater satisfaction to the 
wishes of the French king. The ambassadors, in reply, gave 
them a document to the effect, " that the king having seen 
the decrees of the 1 6th of July, concerning the communion 
sub utraque, and deferring two articles on the same matter, 
howsoever he commendeth that which is done, yet he cannot 
conceal that which is generally remarked, viz. that the matter 
of discipline and manner is either quite omitted or but slen- 
derly handled, and the controverted points in religion in 
which all the fathers agree hastily determined. Which, 
although he thinketh to be false, yet he desireth that the 
propositions of his may be expounded as necessary to provide 
for the good of Christendom, and the calamities of his king- 
dom. And having found by experience, that neither severity 
nor moderation hath been able to reduce those who are 
separated from the Church, he thought fit to have recourse 
to the general council, which he hath obtained of the pope ; 
that he was sorry that the tumults of France did hinder the 
coming of his prelates ; that he saw well that the constancy 
and rigour in continuing the form begun by the legates and 
bishops was not fit to reconcile peace and cause an unity in 
the Church ; that his desire was that nothing might be done 
to alienate the minds of the adversaries now in the beginning 
of the council, but that they may be invited, and, in case 
they come, received as children with all humanity, hoping 
that by this means they will suffer themselves to be taught, 
and brought back to the bosom of the Church. And because 
all that are in Trent do profess the same religion, and neither 
can nor will make doubt of any part thereof, he thinketh 
the disputation and censure in points of religion to be not 
only superfluous, but impertinent for the Catholics, and a 
cause to separate the adversaries the more. For he that 
thinketh they will receive the decrees of the council, in 

b Paleotto, p. 282, sq. Nothing can be more satisfactory than the 
agreement in the accounts of this eye-witness and faithful reporter of 
the proceedings, and of Sarpi. 



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345 



which they have not assisted, doth not know them well ; 
neither will anything be done by their means, but arguments 
furnished for writing more books. Therefore the king 
thinketh it better to omit the matter of religion, until the 
other of reformation be well set in order ; and that this is 
the scope at which every one must aim, that the council, which 
now is great, and will be greater by the coming of the French- 
men, may produce fruit. Afterwards the king demandeth, 
that in regard of the absence of his bishops, the next session 
may be put off until the end of October, or the publication 
of the decrees deferred, or a new order expected from the 
pope, to whom he hath written, labouring in the meanwhile 
in the matter of reformation. And because he understandeth 
that the ancient liberty of councils is not observed, that 
kings or princes, or their ambassadors, may 'declare the 
necessities of their states, his majesty demandeth that their 
authority may be preserved, and all revoked which hath been 
done to the contrary." 11 

A similar wish was expressed by the imperial ambassadors 
on the part of Ferdinand, but with no better success. Fur- 
thermore, other causes of complaint were rife. While the 
pope was unwilling to give the French and German prelates an 
opportunity of being present, by postponing the debates on 
the few remaining doctrinal subjects, he was securing a safe 
majority on his own side, and the council was becoming more 
and more a packed assembly, in which the pontifical interest 
was all but paramount. 6 Indeed, the pope's proceedings in 
this respect were so apparent, that we can well believe, with 
Father Paul, that w he did of set purpose proceed so openly, 
that the cardinal of Lorraine might know that his attempts 
would be in vain, and so resolve not to come, or that the 
French might take some occasion to make the council dis- 

c But Courayer well observes : — " Dans le memoire cela est exprime 
conditionnellement, et Ton y disc-it, que s'il s'etait fait quelque chose de 
contraire a cette liberte, on le revoquat. Les dits ambassadeurs, y est-il 
dit, insisteront que cette liberte-ld leur soit restituee, et s'il a ete decrete 
quelque chose au contraire, qySil soit revoque. Expression qui est plus 
douce, et ou la delicatesse du conceil est mieux menagee que ne semble 
l'indiquer Fra Paolo" (b. ii. p. 344). 

d Brent's Sarpi, p. 546-7. Cf. Le Plat, v. v. p. 501, sqq. 

e Compare an important letter of Lanssac to the queen of France, in 
Le Plat, v. v. p. 505. 



346 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



solve. " f In fact, the cardinal had been assured by his kins- 
man Ferrara, " that his journey would be of no moment, and 
of small reputation to himself, in regard that he would arrive 
after all was determined;" a remark which was thought to 
proceed from the pope, or, at all events, to be by no means 
displeasing to him. 

CHAPTER II. 

Propositions on the Sacrament of Order. 

Several propositions had meanwhile been prepared touch- 
ing the sacrament of Order, to be examined by the theolo- 
gians, who were divided into six classes for the purpose, s 
These propositions were laid before the theologians on the 
18th of September, extracted from the writings of heretics, 
to the following effect : — 

1. That order is not a sacrament, only a certain rite for 
electing and constituting the ministers of the word and of 
the sacraments. 

2. That order is not only not a sacrament, but is rather a 
human figment, devised by men ignorant of ecclesiastical 
matters. 

3. That order is not only a sacrament duly ; and that the 
lower and subsequent orders do not tend as steps to the 
priesthood. 

4. That there is no ecclesiastical hierarchy ; but that all 
Christians alike are priests ; and that for the uses or exercise 
[of the ministerial office] there is need for a call from the 
magistrate and the consent of the people ; and that he who 
has once been made a priest can again become a layman. 

5. That in the New Testament there is no visible and 
outward priesthood ; nor any spiritual power either to con- 
secrate or to offer the body and blood of our Lord, or to 
absolve from sins before God ; but only the office and 
ministry of preaching the Gospel ; and that those who do 
not preach are not priests. 

7. That in the collation of order, unction, and in like 
manner the ceremonies employed, are not only not required, 
but pernicious and to be despised ; and that, by ordination, 

f Sarpi, p. 547. The latter reason is, however, scarcely a probable one. 
s Paleotto, p. 280. Sarpi says only four. 



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the Holy Ghost is not given, and therefore it is impertinent 
for bishops, when they confer orders, to say, Receive ye the 
Holy Ghost 

7. That bishops are not superior to priests ; and that they 
have not the right to ordain, or, if they have, that it is a 
power common to them with priests ; and that ordinations 
conferred by them, without the consent of the people, are 
void. 

Three classes of theologians having been intrusted with 
the examination of the sacrament of Matrimony, the remain- 
ing three occupied themselves in discussing the articles pro- 
posed respecting order. " It was," doubtless, as Mendham 
says, " with a design, that these articles were heretical ones 
to be condemned, not, as was frequently the case, simple 
questions to be discussed." h 

Scarcely had these discussions begun, when some of the 
Spanish prelates began to complain bitterly of the omission 
in the articles of the one brought forward in the same 
council, in the time of Julius III., touching the divine right 
of episcopacy, and its superiority to the priesthood. Seri- 
pando replied, that on this head there was no point at issue 
with the heretics, and that it had therefore been justly 
omitted. It was rejoined, that Luther had denied that 
bishops were such by divine right. Seripando answered, 
that Luther had admitted the divine right of episcopacy as 
an institution, but had impugned the rites of consecrating 
bishops, blessing churches, bells, and other such human fig- 
ments. The Spanish bishops were still dissatisfied, and 
expressed a fear that, if this article were omitted, the ques- 
tion of the divine right of residence would arise again ; and 
they expressed the utmost anxiety that no alteration should 
be made in the article as it formerly stood. " In this," 
observes Paleotto, 1 " they were not much deceived, since the 
legates wished to take away from the fathers every oppor- 
tunity for disputing about residence. Nay, when the minor 
theologians happened to touch even indirectly upon that 
subject, they were promptly forbidden to take up that point 
of dispute > and commanded to attend to the one proposed." 

The congregations commenced on the 23rd of September, k 



h P. 242. 



1 P. 284. 



k Visconti, Lettre du 24 Sept. 



348 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



1562, and they were continued, twice a day, until the 2nd 
of October, 1 or even later. The assembly on the first day 
was very numerous, upwards of a hundred and sixty prelates, 
and eighty-four theologians being present, besides the legates, 
and the imperial, French, Portuguese, Venetian, and Swiss 
ambassadors. The three first articles were discussed by Sal- 
meron, the papal theologian, Ferdinando di Vellorillo and 
Diego Pazoa, both secular clerks, the former sent by Philip, 
the latter by Sebastian. 

The arguments of Salmeron, in brief, were as follow : 
that sacrifice and the priesthood cannot be separated, and 
that the doctrine of the one involves that of the other ; that 
Luther denied that Order was a sacrament, in order to over- 
throw the Church ; that it was instituted by Christ in the 
words " Do this in remembrance of me that the power ot 
conferring order was imparted to the apostles by Christ, with 
the impress of a characteristic and the use of a peculiar cere- 
mony, and that this power was breathed into them by him ; 
that this order is a power over the mystical body of Christ, 
i. e. the Church, as the other, conferred at the Last Supper, 
was over his real body. He then wound up tins subject by 
insisting that bishops were ordained by Christ, as is inferred 
from the last chapter of St. Luke. 

From the sixth chapter of Acts, he next proceeded to 
insist that order is equally a sacrament in the deaconship, 
and that grace is conferred thereby ; he went on to confute 
the heretical opinion that deacons were chosen only for an 
earthly, and not for a celestial, ministry, both from texts of 
St. Paul's epistles, and the fourth council of Carthage, of 
Florence, and Trent. "He then," continues Pallavicino, 
" brought forward various proofs of the characteristic im- 
pressed by the collation of order. He then went on to 
the fourth article, confuting those who held that priests and 
deacons might be constituted by the laity, seeing that their 
office is of a supernatural character, and appertaineth unto 
the gift of 4 feeding the sheep,' which was committed to St. 
Peter, and that this privilege had therefore been interdicted 

1 So Father Paul. But the author of a journal quoted by Courayer, 
p. 348, does not make them end till the 8th of October. Sarpi's whole 
report is here so inaccurate, that I have followed Pallavicino and 
Paleotto. 



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349 



to the laity by the eighth council of Lateran and that of 
Florence. Moreover, when the laity had been allowed to 
choose them, it was only by the permission of the apostles ; 
and that the people were present at, and bore testimony to, 
the election ; but that the power of ordaining rested solely 
in the Church." m 

Two days having been spent by the theologians of the first 
class, those of the second class then spoke. Peter Soto, pon- 
tifical theologian, 11 spoke to the following effect, respecting 
the fourth and fifth articles : that there is in the Church an 
hierarchy, i. e. a power and prerogative to govern. He pro- 
ceeded to illustrate the grades of this hierarchy from the 
fanciful writings of the fictitious Dionysius Areopagite. He 
denied that all Christians were priests, and alleged that the 
words of St. Peter, " a holy people, a royal priesthood," 
referred only to a mystical and spiritual priesthood, not to a 
proper and bodily one ; that baptism is a sacrament whereby 
we are born again, not whereby power is conferred on us ; 
and that, as in the order of nature, so in the order of grace, 
it is absurd that birth and perfection should unite in one. 

He went on to show, by various sayings of St. Ambrose, 
St. Cyprian, and the Council of Nice, that Order is an out- 
ward sacrament ; and, to show the third grade of the 
hierarchy, i. e. the ministers or deacons, he observed, that 
although the lower offices may in a certain wise be executed 

m Pallav. xviii. 12, 3-5. The speech is given at full length in Le 
Plat, v. p. 510, sqq. 

n His speech is wrongly placed on the 23rd by Sarpi. He also differs 
materially as to its purport. Conrayer thinks that the speech reported 
by Sarpi, on the seven orders instituted by Christ, was delivered by one 
of the theologians of the first class. This seems likely, if we consider 
the character of Soto's answer, as given above, as it will then be a reply 
not only to Salmeron, as Dr. Waterworth has observed, but to another 
of the earlier speakers. It may be well to quote Sarpi's analysis of 
this speech : " Soto was copious in showing that there were seven 
orders, and each properly a sacrament, and all instituted by Christ, 
saying, it was necessary to make a declaration herein, because some 
canonists, passing the limits of their profession, have added two more ; 
the first, tonsure, and the bishopric; which opinion may cause many 
other errors of greater importance. He likewise showed at large, that 
Christ had, while he was on earth, exercised all these orders, one after 
another ; all whose life, as it was addressed to the last of these sacra- 
ments, so it is plain that all the others serve only as a ladder to climb 
up to the highest, which is the priesthood." 



350 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



by all Christians, yet they are not exercised by all in the 
most legitimate and congruous manner; since for such works 
there is need of a certain power beyond nature, even in the 
most moral — a power which is imparted by him, who is at 
the head of the Church — and that therefore the present 
custom of suffering the laity to administer the seven offices 
of the Church was neither praiseworthy nor agreeable to the 
practice of the ancient Church. He then impugned the 
statement in the third article, that the priesthood is simply the 
office of j)reaching, seeing that that office rather appertained 
to bishops j but bade them guard against the mistake set 
forth in the latter part of that same article, that no man can 
be a bishop who possesses not the faculty of preaching. 

Returning back to the fourth article, he confuted the 
latter portion, referring to lay ordination, taking, however, a 
different view to that of Salmeron, viz. that the right of 
election, and not the merely bearing witness thereunto, 
belonged to the people, as was evident from the fourth epistle 
of St. Cyprian, and from apostolic tradition. But he alleged, 
although that right was of apostolic origin, nevertheless such 
traditions, appertaining as they did to a point of government, 
might be changed, while those, which appertained to sacra- 
ment, could not. Thus the Roman pontiffs had been able to 
regulate the system of ordination, and permit it, as time and 
circumstances might demand, either to chapters, princes, or 
others. 

The two last articles were examined by the third class of 
theologians, and more especially by Melcliior Cornelio, a 
secular clerk, sent by the king of Portugal. He remarked 
that the denial of grace conferred in order was an error of 
"Wickliff. After a defence of the unction, and of other 
matters opposed in that proposition, he came to the last 
article, and laboured to prove that the celebrated saying of 
St. J erome, quoted by heretics, to the effect that the distinc- 
tion between bishops and priests is not by nature, but in a 
prerogative derived from custom, and maintained that the 
words of the father were to be understood solely of an 
equality of external jurisdiction prescribed by ecclesiastical 
law. He also attempted to refute some of Soto's objections, 
to Salmeron, touching the right of lay election. 
Pallav. ibid. §§ 6-9. 



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351 



CHAPTER III. 

On the Subject of Reformation. Fresh Difficulties. Proposals to Pius. 

We must not lose sight of the speech of Seripando at the 
opening of the congregations on the 2 3rd of September. In 
the absence of the cardinal of Mantua, he recommended the 
fathers to give fitting attention to the propositions respecting 
doctrine, while the legates should turn theirs to the subject 
of reformation. P 

The legates, however, were bent on doing nothing without 
a reference to the pontiff ; and they accordingly despatched a 
letter to him, especially setting forth the ircgency of the 
fathers to bring on the question of residence. 

The main cause of the revival of this bone 'of contention 
was a change made in the seventh article from the form in 
which it had been prepared under the legate Crescenzio. It 
had then been proposed to condemn the assertion " that 
bishops are not superior to priests by the divine law." These 
words, for reasons which will be sufficiently obvious, were 
now suppressed, in the hope of preventing any tendency to 
revive the troublesome question of the right of residence. 

But this conduct, and the motives which prompted it, had 
not escaped the observation of the imperial and the French 
prelates, who remonstrated on the omission of the obnoxious 
words. The legates replied, as Pallavicino confesses, with 
some dissimulation, that they had no intention of evading 
the question touching the right of residence, and that they 
were willing to discuss it during the present session. They 
probably spoke the truth ; for, as the same historian observes, 
they could never have hoped that that question, so often 
aroused, would be suffered to fall into oblivion ; but they 
were anxious to avoid encumbering the question with merely 
speculative matters, which had not been stated by any of 
the modern heretics. Lanssac added, that he cared little on 
what right the prescript of residence depends, provided 
means of enforcing its strict observance be discovered ; since it 
is evident that most of the evils of the Church arise from 
neglect on this head. 



p Paleotto, p. 285. 



352 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



A violent dispute followed, and the archbishops of Granada,*! 
Braga, and Messina, and the bishop of Segovia, having in vain 
tried to persuade the legates, went to Seripando, before whom 
they produced various passages from the writings of heretics, 
in which the divine institution of bishops was denied. To 
this Seripando replied, that such was not the opinion of the 
heretics ; but simply this, that the bishops of the present time 
were not those to whom the sacred Scriptures refer, seeing 
that they did not exercise the ministries there enjoined 
them — words which rather seemed to prove that they held 
the institution of bishops to have proceeded from God. 

Under these circumstances, the legates recommended three 
courses to the pontiff, as likely to meet the question of resi- 
dence. One was, that they should propose to have the 
matter referred to the pontiff — a view which the pontiff 
himself had approved, in an epistle addressed to Simonetta, 
but which had not yet arrived. r Another was, that without 
entering into a definition of the disputed point, certain rules 
respecting residence, with suitable penalties and rewards 
annexed, should be drawn up, with the view of effectually 
securing residence. The third was, that a number of the 
bishops, amounting to upwards of a hundred, should solicit 
the legates, as if from their own free will, to remit the whole 
matter to the decision of the pontiff — a form which would 
appear more becoming than if the legates appeared to be the 
authors of this proposition. 

CHAPTEE IV. 

Reply of Pius. 

It will readily be seen, that the last of the three proposals 
above mentioned would be little popular with the remaining 
bishops, even if the proposed majority were obtained. Nay, 
the courtly historian of the papal council himself confesses, 
that it was more likely to lead to a fresh and greater schisni 
than to heal the old one. s Two things, however, are tolerably 

q Cf. Sarpi, p. 565, sqq. ed. Brent. 
r See Pallav. § 13. 

s Pallav. ibid. § 14. Dr. Waterworth's statement of the third pro- 
position, "that a number of the bishops should, of themselves, propose 
that the question should be referred to his holiness," certainly is a most 



COUNCIL OF TREXT. 



353 



evident from the very notion of such a proposal, firstly, that 
the legates, and through them the pontiff, were virtually the 
whole council ; and secondly, that the legates felt sufficient 
confidence in the existence of a majority in the council in 
favour of the pontiff. 

Pius IY. replied, that while he should have preferred that 
the council should act independently, he felt inclined to con- 
sider the second proposal as the best. As touching the con- 
dition to be apjDended, excluding the definition of the doctrine 
respecting residence, he was silent. But the main purport 
of his letter was to leave the whole to the judgment of his 
representatives, the legates. 

Both the legates and the pontiff were the more anxious for 
a speedy and quiet termination of the dispute, as the French 
prelates, headed by the cardinal of Lorraine, were expected. 
Seripando, who had taken the office of first legate, in conse- 
quence of the illness of the cardinal of Mantua, had learnt 
that, on the arrival of those prelates, various innovations 
would be attempted, especially as regarded the manner of 
voting j as well as that questions of great magnitude and 
responsibility, such as the superiority of the pontiff or of the 
council, the method of electing the pontiff, the limitation of 
the number of cardinals, and other similar subjects, would be 
brought under discussion. Subsequent letters, however, from 
Rome, proved that their fears were exaggerated, and that 
the rumours had been to a considerable extent at variance 
with the real state of circumstances.* 

mild version of Pallavicino, and totally suppresses the intriguing and 
dishonest character of the proposal. Compare Courayer, v. ii. p. 374-5. 

* Compare Mendham, p. 244. "There were persons," Paleotto 
writes, "who carped at the pontiff for sending to the synod bishops of 
inferior qualifications, as if he regarded rather number than weight 
and value. It was likewise objected, that his holiness readily granted 
licenses of absence to those prelates residing at Trent, who were favour- 
able to the divine right, although men of eminence and merit. These, 
however, are represented as uncandid and unfounded surmises." The fol- 
lowing passage of Father Paul is important : — " The coming of Lorraine 
did trouble them more, being advised from divers places that, besides the 
business of the election of the pope, he meant to propose many novelties, 
about the collation of bishoprics, plurality of benefices, and, which was 
of no less importance, the communion of the cup, marriage of priests, 
and mass in the vulgar tongue. And, presupposing he would not begin 
his journey before he had answer from tl*e abbot of Monte, sent by the 



354 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER Y. 

Discussions on the Canons. 

On the 9th of October, the document containing the 
articles, or rather anathemas respecting the doctrine of 
Order, was fully prepared, and was laid before the assembled 
fathers. But before it was presented in the general con- 
gregation, it was communicated, according to custom, to the 
different ambassadors present. The French deputies objected 
to the seventh canon, which condemned the assertion that 
ordinations are invalid when conferred without the choice or 
consent of the people, as being opposed to the custom of the 
French nation. Their objection was submitted to a committee 
of theologians, who explained that their only intention was 
to define, that the force of the sacrament of Order does not 
depend upon the popular assent. However, to prevent 
ambiguity, the word "orders" was substituted for ordination. u 

We will now proceed to notice a few of the objections and 
other remarks to which these documents gave rise. 

The patriarch of Yenice objected to a clause which 
alleged that orders receive their consummation in the priest- 
hood, as being opposed to the first point in the chapter on 
sacred unction, and to the common opinion of those skilled 

king and himself, they gave consent to recall the cardinal of Ferrara, 
and to offer the legation of that kingdom to Lorraine, which they did 
think might stop him, because he so much desired to command that 
clergy, that he had formerly plotted to make himself patriarch in 
France ; but if he came, that more prelates ought to be sent to the 
council, and some cardinals also, to counterpoise him. And the 
cardinals of Bordisina and Navagero were named. But this resolution 
was not then taken, because they feared that Lorraine would disdain, 
and take occasion to do worse ; and because it was not so well known 
whether these were able to make so great an opposition ; as also because 
they were willing to know the opinion first of those who were in Trent, 
for fear of giving them distaste. They considered the charge which 
would increase, which was not fit to be endured without great utility. 
Therefore they resolved to write to the legates, not to suffer the least 
discourse concerning the election of the pope • which, if they could not 
resist, yet they should not give any permission, but rather return to 
Borne, lest they should prejudice the College of Cardinals and Italy." 

u Pallav. xviii. 14, 4. This author and Paleotto, p. 293, sqq. are 
my authorities for what follows. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



355 



in ecclesiastical law, viz., that episcopacy is a distinct order, 
which is not consummated in the priesthood. 

The archbishop of Granada, perhaps rather hypercritically, x 
objected to the assertion that the inferior orders ascend 
through, the middle, since they do not ascend; but the clerk 
by them. With better reason he opposed the omission in the 
seventh canon of a definition, which had been prepared under 
Julius III., declaring that bishops were instituted by divine 
right, and were by the same law superior to priests. He 
proceeded to demonstrate the necessity of a statement on 
this subject from the errors of Calvin, Musculus, and other 
innovators, and complained that no reply had been made by 
the legates to his previous remonstrances. He went on to 
show that episcopacy was one single institution, of which all 
bishops possessed a part ; that the Roman pontiff and the 
other bishops were brothers, the son of one father, Christ, 
and one mother, the Church ; and that, although the pontiff 
was the head of the Church, the other bishops derived their 
institution from Christ, and not from Peter; just as the 
apostles received their commission from Christ, and not from 
Peter. 

Hosius rejoined, that the Confession of Augsburg recog- 
nised this pre-eminence in bishops, and only denied that the 
unction, prayers, and rites of their consecration were such as 
had been originally instituted. " Why, then," rejoined 
Guerrero, " if even the heretics confess this, why should 
we be ashamed to assert if?" "Lest," replied Hosius, "we 
should seem to call in question a matter, which the heretics 
have not impugned." 

The archbishops of Lara and Braga supported the arch- 
bishop of Granada, the former prelate remarking, that the 
council had met not only to condemn the Augsburg Con- 
fession, but likewise all other heresies; and that, whereas 
other heresies involved the error in question, they were 
bound to condemn it in express terms. He of Braga also 
observed, that the rights of ordination adopted by the 
Catholic Church were called in question by the heretics, and 
that it was necessary to declare that the power of confessing 
and conferring orders belonged as much to the bishops, as the 



x Mendham, p. 244. 
2 a2 



3o6 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



power of preaching, to which they wished episcopacy to be 
limited. 

The bishop of Segova supported the objection made by 
the patriarch of Venice, touching the non-consummation of 
Order in the priesthood, and thought that it was unadvisable 
to state that Order confers that kind of grace by which man 
becomes the friend of God. He then recommended that all 
the ceremonies of ordination should be enumerated, and a 
distinction drawn between those which were necessary, and 
those which were merely used for congruity's sake ; and that 
a clear definition of the origin of bishops and priests, in as 
far as they constitute an hierarchy, should be laid down. He 
added, that, as the Koman pontiff is the successor of Christ, 
so are bishops the successors of the apostles; and that, 
consequently, wherever the jurisdiction of bishops is en- 
feebled, the pontificate in like manner loses strength ; that 
the power of jurisdiction was conferred on bishops by God, 
seeing that episcopacy cannot exist apart from jurisdiction; 
but that the exercise of that jurisdiction is conferred on 
them by the Roman pontiff, whose province it is to designate 
persons, and allot the churches. He also urged the necessity 
of defining episcopacy to be a distinct order ; and that, with 
the priesthood and deaconate, it constituted the hierarchy. 
He went on to argue, that whereas Christ was the author of 
the hierarchy, he was in like manner the author of that 
jurisdiction, whereby bishops are placed in the highest order 
of the hierarchy ; and lastly, he held that the words u What- 
soever ye shall bind" etc. were addressed by Christ to all the 
apostles ; and he affirmed that bishops had succeeded the 
apostles fully, both in order and in jurisdiction. 

These opinions, in which the reader will detect not a 
little quiet assertion of the episcopal versus the papal pre- 
rogative, met with approbation from some of the prelates ; but 
they were objected to by the bishops of Nicastro and Yercelli, 
as involving a point which had been purposely left undiscussed 
by the minor theologians, and concerning which they them- 
selves were not agreed. This is a tolerable proof, that 
private intrigue, while it regulated every step of the proceed- 
ings of this council, totally prevented the possibility even of 
a fair choice of subjects, unless in connection with those of 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



357 



the select committees, who virtually administered the whole 
affair. 

The bishops of Leon, Ostium, and Viviers, maintained 
that episcopacy is of divine institution, but only as regards 
order ; the bishop of Lago took the very reverse opinion ; 
whilst the bishop of Aliffe, taking a middle view of the 
question, asserted that both the office and the jurisdiction of 
bishops are from Christ ; but that it appertained to the 
pontiff to assign the place and manner in which both were 
to be exercised. 

It would be impossible to mention even the names of all 
who spoke on this subject, amounting, as they did, to one 
"hundred and eighty-one of the fathers, fifty-three of whom 
supported the amendment of the archbishop of Granada. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Oration of Diego Lainez, 

While I regret that I cannot enter into a lengthy dis- 
cussion on the extraordinary verbal discrepancy between the 
reports of the oration of Lainez, delivered on the 20th of 
October, found in the rival histories of the council, I must 
at the same time express my conviction that, although 
Pather Paul has presented an elegant and plausible oration, 2 
probably closely agreeing with what was actually spoken, 
his accuracy in the order and details seems to be far 
inferior to that of Pallavicino, who, while allowing his 
adversary some praise for the working up of the arguments 
brought forward by the Jesuit, is vehement in his condem- 
nation of his want of veracity. What I am about to bring 
forward, must be merely looked upon as a summary of what 
the latter found written, not as what he believed to have been 
actually spoken. a The uncertainty of notes taken by 
different hearers, and the likelihood of additions, sometimes 
by way of commentary — the inversions of arrangement, con- 
sequent on the comparison of imperfect copies with the view 

y Only 131 according to Visconti ; but 8 and 3 are easily confounded. 
z It will be found in Brent's Sarpi, p. 570, sq. Cf. Courayer, v. ii. 
p. 391, sqq. 

a Pallav. xviii. 18, 1. 



358 THE HISTORY OF THE 

of making up one complete one — and the natural tendency 
to alter in filling out the notes taken, are sufficient reasons to 
account for a discrepancy, which compels us to read on both 
sides, before we assign our belief or our incredulity to either. 

After setting forth the fact, that many had discouraged 
him from entering upon the present subject, lest he should 
lay himself open to the reproach of being a servile follower 
of the pontiffs, b he declared that he did not therefore feel 
justified in abandoning the obligation of defending the truth. ; 
that God, the Judge of the living and the dead, would be 
his witness that he spoke according to conscience, and had 
never uttered a word with the view of currying favour; 
that he had thrice been present at that synod, under three 
different pontiffs, and had always used sincerity of speech, and 
always would do so ; and that he had no reason for doing- 
otherwise, as he had nothing to seek, hope, or fear. 

He then proceeded to show, that a thing is of divine 
right, which God has instituted immediately of liimself ; but 
that, on the contrary, that cannot be said to be of divine 
right, which God does through the intervention of others. 
Thus, law, considered absolutely, is from God ; but not there- 
fore every individual law ; that all truth, as St. Ambrose 
saith, cometh of the Holy Ghost ; but yet it is not necessaiy 
that every individual truth proceed from the divine law ; 
that it is neither required, nor is it always sufficient, that a 
precept be of divine institution, or that it be contained in 
the Sacred Scriptures ; not necessary, to wit, as is evident 
from the matter and form of some of the sacraments ; not 
sufficient, as may be seen from the prohibition against eating 
blood and things strangled, in the loth chapter of the Acts. 
In like manner, St. Paul commands bishops to be men of 
one wife ; women to wear veils ; but such precepts, although 
recorded in Scripture, are not therefore of divine right. 

b " Ut noil deficiunt aliqui, qui hsec ab eo idcirco ita affirniari suspi- 
carentur, quod euro, ejus religio, cujus ipse caput et generalis erat, 
pendeat recta a papa, et quotidie latius propagetur, putaverit ipse si jus 
sententia obtineret, facile futuruni fore, ut ejus religio majores huic 
vires sumeret, quoniam aliarum etiam ecclesiarum administratio, repug- 
nantibus licet episcopis. ei concedi posset, cum ambo jurisdictionem 
aeque ac papa ignoscant. Verum hsec proculdubio vana fuerunt." — 
Paleotto, p. 301. This certainly corroborates Pallavicino's statement; 
while Father Paul says nothing about the subject. 



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3o9 



Furthermore, he observed, the Scriptures and fathers, in 
innumerable places, ascribe many works to God, because he 
influences them, and works them by means of secondary 
causes, which nevertheless only mediately proceed from the 
divine power; while, on the contrary, many works are 
ascribed to men, which were the result of the immediate 
agency of God For instance, the baptism of John, the law 
of Moses, and other similar things, were the direct institu- 
tions of God. c 

Moreover, there was this general rule, depending upon 
the observation, the congruity, and the similar character of 
the operations of nature, viz., that those precepts, which 
God had wished to be immutable, had been delivered imme- 
diately by himself; while those, which were changeable, had 
been ordained through others ; and, therefore, that the 

- c By way of comparison, I append a quotation from the beginning or 
Sarpi's statement of the same oration : — 

" The substance was, that there is great difference, yea, contrariety, 
between the Church of Christ and civil societies. For these have first 
their being, and then they frame their government, and therefore are 
free, and all jurisdiction is originally in them, which they do communi- 
cate to magistrates, without depriving themselves of it. But the Church 
did not make itself nor its government ; but Christ, who is prince and 
monarch, did first constitute laws, by which it should be governed, and 
then did assemble it, and, as the Scripture saith, did build it, so that it 
was born a servant, without any kind of liberty, power, or jurisdiction, 
and absolutely subject. For proof hereof he alleged places of the Scrip- 
ture in which the congregation of the Church is compared to a sowing, 
to the draught of a net, and to a building ; and where it is said that 
Christ came into the world to assemble his faithful people, to gather 
together his sheep, to instruct them by doctrine and example. Then he 
added, that the first and original ground upon which Christ built the 
Church was Peter and his succession, according to the words which he 
spoke to him, f Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
Church.' Which rock, however, some of the fathers have understood 
to be Christ himself, and others, the faith of Peter, or the confession of 
his faith ; yet the more Catholic exposition is, that Peter himself is 

understood, who in the Hebrew and Syriac is called a stone 

.And to Peter alone it was said, 'feed,' that is, 1 govern my sheep,' 
animals which have no part or judgment in governing themselves. 
These things, that is, to be a key-keeper and a pastor, being perpetual 
offices, must be conferred upon a perpetual person, that is, not upon the 
first only, but upon all his succession. So the bishop of Rome, from 
St. Peter to the end of the world, is true and absolute monarch, with full 
and total power and jurisdiction, and the Church is subject unto him,^as 
it was to Christ." — Brent, p. 570. 



360 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



immutable laws were contained in the Gospel, because set 
forth by Christ himself. 

Hence he observed, that there are two kinds of power 
among men, — the civil and the ecclesiastical, the latter of 
which is also of two sorts ; one, that of order, which operates 
by means of the sacraments, and another, that which operates 
by means of excommunications and other laws : that the first 
is the power of order, imprinted by consecration, and insti- 
tuted for the purpose of imparting holiness to others, in as far 
as there is need for the sanctification of souls ; while the latter 
is the power of jurisdiction, infused not by consecration, but 
by the simple act of collation, and therefore capable of 
being communicated to a clerk of lower degree, and even to 
a layman. As both powers tended towards heaven, so both 
were from on high, but yet differed in various ways. - 

Having detailed these differences, he proceeded to affirm, 
that episcopacy in every one created a bishop, was imme- 
diately derived from God ; but not so jurisdiction; which is 
immediately from God only in those to whom God hath 
immediately communicated it, as to Peter and his successors, 
and, as he thought, was in the other apostles only by special 
privilege and commission ; whereas all other bishops enjoy 
it through the medium of the pontiff, and immediately from the 
pontiff, as successor of St. Peter. The pope's jurisdiction, he 
continued, is unchangeable, as was that of Peter and the 
other apostles ; in the case of bishops, changeable, but not at 
the mere pleasure of the pontiff, but from just reason. 

He then went on to impugn the assertion that the words 
" feed my lambs" were addressed to all the apostles, and 
not to Peter only, and that they therefore contained a dis- 
tinct grant of jurisdiction to all bishcps, as successors of the 
apostles. He observed, that, at this rate, Peter would 
himself have been among the sheep to be fed, and would 
therefore have been subject to the others. 

Similar quibbles did this ingenious man employ in face of 
the plainest statements of Scripture — quibbles which, how- 
ever, were too well known to admit of much new illustra- 
tion. Suffice it to say, that his reasoning is generally as 
clever, as his premises are untrue ; and that, if he did not 
earn the name he seems to have dreaded, he ought to have 
done so. A stancher adherent to popery never existed — 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



361 



powerful, because he seldom lost sight of his object, still less 
frequently gave way to impulse ; powerful, because earnest 
and endued with an eloquence which even the most varying 
reporters render undoubted; and possessing a ready perception 
of fallacies, and a power of eliciting them from the very 
words of truth itself His abilities we cannot doubt ; but it 
is to be questioned whether they contributed much to 
the welfare of the cause on which they were so lavishly 
bestowed. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Remarks on Father Paul's Report of this Speech, 

Having said thus much respecting Pallavicino's account of 
this remarkable oration, I still feel that it would be a serious 
omission to pass over some peculiar features in the speech 
reported by Father Paul, as they tend to show the influence 
which the pontiff possessed over the council, or rather, to 
exhibit the utter fallacy of supposing that even a so-called 
general council had any authority save as the representative 
of the pontiff's pleasure. 

" As a number of prelates, assembled by the pope to 
make a general council, be it how small soever, hath the 
name and efficacy to be general from the pope only, so also 
it hath its authority • so that if it doth make precepts, or 
anathematisms, neither of them are of force but by virtue of 
the pope's future confirmation. And when the synod saith, 
that it is assembled in the Holy Ghost, it meaneth that the 
fathers are congregated, according to the pope's intimation, 
to handle that which, being approved by him, will be 
decreed by the Holy Ghost. Otherwise, how could it be 
said that a decree was made by the Holy Ghost, and could 
be made to be of no force by the pope's authority, or had 
need of greater confirmation ? And, therefore, in the coun- 
cils, be they never so numerous, if the pope be present, he 
only can decree ; neither cloth the council anything but ap- 
prove, that is, receive the decrees ; and, therefore, it hath 
always been said, sacro cqjprobante concilio ; nay, even in 
resolutions of the greatest weight (as was the disposition of 
the emperor Frederick II. in the general council of Lyons), 
Innocent IV., a most wise pope, refused the approbation of 
the synod, that none might think it necessary, and thought 



362 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



it sufficient to say, sacro prcesente concilio. And for all this 
the council cannot be said to be superfluous ; because it is 
assembled for better inquisition, for more easy persuasion, 
and to give satisfaction to men. And when it giveth 
sentence, it doth it by virtue of the pope's authority, derived 
from God. And for these reasons, the good doctors have 
subjected the council's authority to the pope's, as wholly 
depending on it, without which it hath not the assistance of 
the Holy Ghost, or infallibility, nor power to bind the 
Church, but as it is granted by him alone to whom Christ 
hath said : Feed my s/ieep." d 

Father Paul's remarks at all times exhibit a greater insight 
into the pure principles by which history is to be tried, viz., 
those of human nature, than his rival Pallavicino's. What- 
ever the latter author may say, I agree with Courayer e as to 
the great probability of the following particulars : — 

u The bishop of Paris, who was sick at home when he 
should have given his vote, declared to every one that, when 
a congregation was held, he would deliver his opinion against 
the doctrine broached by Lainez — a doctrine which, not 
having been heard of in former ages, has been invented by 
Caietan to gain a cap ; that in those days it was censured 
by the Sorbonne ; that, instead of a celestial kingdom (such 
as the Church is called), it maketh it not a kingdom, but a 
temporal tyranny ; that it taketh from the Church the title 
of the spouse of Christ, and maketh it a servant, prostituted 
to a man." He went on to show how by this doctrine the 
episcopal authority was debased ; " that the bishops had held 
their authority entire until the year 1050, when it received 
a great blow by the congregations of Clugny and Cisterce 
and others, which arose in the same age, because many 
functions, proper and essential to bishops, were, by their 
means, reduced under the papal sway. But when the Men- 
dicants began, after 1200, almost all the exercise of episcopal 
authority was taken away, and given to them, by privilege." 
A little after, our historian continues : " Those that were 
skilled in history did speak no less of that observation, sacro 
prcesente concilio; which, being in all the canonical texts, 
seemed new unto them all, because they had not marked it. 



d Brent's translation, p. 593, sq. 



e P. 398. 



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363 



And some approved the Jesuit's interpretation, and some, 
on the contrary, said that the council had refused to approve 
that sentence. Some proceeding one way, said, that the 
question being of a temporal matter, the business might pass 
either one way or other ; but that no consequence could 
be drawn from hence, that the same might be done in matter 
of faith, or ecclesiastical rites, especially it being observed 
that, in the council of the apostles, which ought to be a 
ruled pattern, the decree was not made by Peter, in presence 
of the council, nor by him with approbation, but the epistle 
was entitled with the names of the three degrees, asserting 
in that congregation, apostles, elders, and brethren ; and 
Peter was included in the first, without prerogative. An 
example which, in regard of antiquity and divine authority, 
is of more credit than all those of the times following, yea, 
than all together. And, for that day, in respect of these 
other points, the discourse of the Jesuit gave matter of talk 
throughout all Trent, and nothing else was spoken of/' f 

CHAPTER YIIL 

Want of Freedom in the Council. Opinion of Dam. 

After this further specimen of the crippled character of 
the proceedings of this council, I feel that I cannot do better 
than introduce the spirited remarks of a German writer on 
the dependant character of the whole affair. Although 
I feel, that, to a great extent, the following remarks do but 
reiterate what has been repeatedly inculcated throughout 
the present volume, yet, so intimately do his remarks apply 
to the unsettled state of the synod, which will shortly 
become the subject of my pen — so ably, and yet so tersely, has 
he stated the various influences which tended to shackle the 
Trident hie assembly, and thereby render it inefficient in all, 
useless in many points most needing its attention, that I feel 
no small satisfaction in introducing them to my readers. It 
will be observed, that their political value is perhaps greater 
than their theological; but in matters where temporal 
interests had so unlimited a sway as the Council of Trent, 
this does little towards shaking their reputation for truth- 
fulness. 

f Sarpi, p. 575. 



364 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" This Tridentine Council had quite another aim than the 
two general councils which preceded it. It had to take 
the position somewhat of a peace congress, and to seek 
and propose the ways and means, by which the provinces, 
who had torn themselves away from the general Church, or 
had been excluded therefrom, might again be united to, 

and incorporated with it But to attain this end the 

council should have been entirely free, both spiritually and 
corporeally. Spiritually free it could only be, if it had 
really been assembled under the Holy Spirit, and not in the 
spirit of clerical princedom and priest prejudice ; if it had 
not allowed itself to be influenced in any manner by precon- 
ceived notions, or bad passions ; if it had put aside all per- 
sonalities, and had not permitted heretic hatred to have any 
sway over its actions ; if it had been able to forget and to 
learn. It was not to carry on a lawsuit with the dissen- 
tients ; a sentence was not in question, but a mutual act of 
concession ; a dictated peace was not concerned, but one 
freely accepted by both parties. How little, however, of 
this spirit of freedom, of peace, of mutual concession, there 
was to be found at Trent, the history of the council proves 
in almost every page. Did not bishops sit there, who un- 
equivocally declared, that they had only come together in 
order to anathematize the Protestants as heretics ? whilst the 
highest piece of abuse that could be levelled against the 
council consisted in the idea that it was possible for them- 
selves to agree with Protestants in one point. Vincit pu- 
dorem libido, rationem amentia. With such a horror of all 
means of reconciliation, with such a raging spirit of con- 
demnation, no hope of union and peace could ever survive. 
The Council of Trent surpasses all others in the number of 
its anathemas. 

"To be corporeally free, viz., to be free in the forms of 
their proceedings, the synod ought never to have allowed a 
papal legate to be their president ; and the princes, to whom 
church union and church freedom were of consequence, should 
have supported them in every way with all their might and 
dignity. It is not correct, too, for the sovereign head of a 
state to preside at the assemblies of the estates of his realm. 
The papal legates might have been present at the sessions, 
and have preserved the supreme rights of the Church against 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



365 



any improper attacks ; but they should never have interfered 
with the proceedings until they assumed a lawless and dis- 
orderly aspect. The council ought not to have put the 
papal legate in the chair j for it might have perceived, that 
under these circumstances the Protestants would not feel 
disposed to appear. And yet this was the most important 
thing of all, in order that the bearings of the question under 
consideration should not be judged in a partial manner. 

" The council, however, completely lost its freedom by the 
system of voting and acting that had been proposed. The 
fathers were first bounded and sifted in the congregations, so 
that they might be subsequently worked upon in accordance 
with the papal views ; and if they did not then agree, they 
were brought into a minority by the manner of gathering 
the votes separately ; for the Italian prelates wjio were pre- 
sent, and were nearly all creatures of the pope, were far 
greater in number than the others. 

" But the principal thing which impeded the freedom of 
the council, was the slavery and confinement of the legates 
themselves, who dared not comply in any way with the 
wishes of the fathers, but were ever obliged to await the 
commands from Rome, and to act in conformity with those 
commands. This was so well known, that a jest was made 
of it, in that they said, the Holy Ghost, who worked in the 
council, always came in a portmanteau from Rome." t 

CHAPTER IX. 

Further Disputes on the Divine Right of Bishops, Departure of 
Cardinal Altemps. 

Altemps. vexed at the delay produced by the disputes 
just related, obtained leave from the pontiif, and went to 
visit his own church. He had at first intended to return to 
Trent ; but it being found that neither his age nor his in- 
fluence was sufficient to draw the Germans to the synod, he 
was subsequently released from the duties of legate. The 
pontiff was meanwhile strongly inclined to add two legates 
to the number already at Trent. One of these was Busde- 
sius, a French prelate, who the pontiff hoped would jDossess 

s Danz, Geschichte des Tridentinischen Concils, pp. xxxiii.-xxxvi. 
Jena : 1846. This Danz, by the way, is himself a Catholic. 



366 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



considerable influence over the minds of his countrymen at 
the council, and would serve to counterbalance any measures 
that the cardinal of Lorraine might take displeasing to the 
papal court. But the cardinal of Mantua expressed his 
willingness to consent to any measures that the pontiff 
might think fit to adopt, but at the same time alleged that 
the proposed addition seemed likely to prove fruitless. He 
represented that the French prelate was totally unfit to 
compete with Lorraine either in ability or position ; and that 
the very comparison implied by such antagonism might only 
offend the latter, and drive him to display his superiority by 
some untoward measures. As to Navagero, the other can- 
didate, he was neither skilled in the canon law nor in general 
theology, and was therefore unfit for the proposed office. 
Simonetta fully agreed with the opinion expressed by his 
colleague ; and, as Pallavicino well observes — " We cannot 
wonder that the proposed addition was very disagreeable to 
the old legates, since those talked of were far from being 
superior to themselves; and it seemed an evidence, either 
that they themselves were inadequate to their office, or did 
not possess the confidence of Pius. Again, the very nature 
of things rendered it likely that those, who, by virtue of 
their experience, had taken the lead, would be less anxious 
for success in their future transactions, since every good result 
would be attributed solely to the assistance of their new 
colleague." 11 

Accordingly, they laboured unceasingly to display their 
own zeal, and to do away with any question of their effi- 
ciency. On the 20th of October, the four Dominican bishops 
of Chioggia, Hossano, Modena, and Lanciano, were added to 
the deputies already appointed, and were directed to draw 
up a fresh form of doctrine. After incessant labour, espe- 
cially at the seventh canon, they presented the result of 
their investigations to the legates on the 28th; i who in turn 

h Pallav. xviii. 16. 

1 "In a letter of Visconti, dated the 22nd of October, 1562, and 
which is a very long one, besides the agreement that Hosius should 
interrupt Granada if he trespassed upon the forbidden ground of divine 
right, as has been already noted, the writer begins a fresh ciphered 
part, with observing that there were many prelates who, in different 
ways, spread a report of the suspension of the council ; some saying that 
the abbot of Manna sought it in the name of Rome, and that the emperor 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



367 



laid it before the Spanish bishops for their approval. In 
this document bishops were declared to be, as regards their 
order, instituted by Christ; but as all mention of the origin 
of their jurisdiction was omitted, the Spaniards still remained 
as dissatisfied as ever. The archbishop of Granada observed, 
that he had been charged with want of fidelity to the Apos- 
tolic See ; but that this charge was unjust, and that, to prove 
it so, he would readily consent to a declaration, " that bishops 
are, by the Divine law, subject to the Roman pontiff, and 
bound to obey him." But he and his party at the same time 
positively insisted on the addition of the clause, which had 
been proposed under Julius III., and declared, that if it were 
refused, they would complain to his most Catholic majesty 
and the other princes, and cease to attend the meetings of the 
synod. k The legates were in great difficulty, but thought it 
unadvisable to enter into a long dispute. The cardinal of 
Mantua, therefore, gave a polite but general answer, de- 
claring that himself and colleagues would not be wanting to 
their duty, and exhorting the malcontents to be quiet, and to 
submit to the general opinion of the synod. 

While the legates were in a most uncomfortable state of 
doubt and anxiety, they were visited by the three patriarchs, 
accompanied by upwards of forty prelates, who endeavoured 
to persuade them to make no alteration in the obnoxious 
canon. This shows the evident jealousy of the Italian pre- 
lates against those of Spain — a fact which Pallavicino 1 con- 
fesses, and which will surprise no one who reflects upon the 
many temptations to non-residence, which was the funda- 
mental matter of the dispute, that were presented by the 
luxurious ease and refinements of the court of Rome. 

The legates at length resolved to make use of a form of 
the canon, which had been proposed by the archbishops of 
Lanciano and Modena, which, although obscure, seemed 
capable of an explanation calculated to meet the wishes of 
the fathers. Paleotto assisted them in drawing it up, in 

desired in particular that his holiness should do it without mentioning 
that the princes wished for it. Thi3, it is added, would be a good pre- 
tence for finishing the council. His holiness certainly was in trepidation 
all the while the council was sitting ; and these reports had doubtless 
some foundation." — Mendham, p. 274. Cf. Heidigger, v. ii. p. 855. 
k Pallav. ibid. Paleotto, p. 301, sqq. 1 Ibid. § 6. 



368 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



terms suited to the avowed meaning of the Spanish fathers. 
According to the Acta, which Pallavicino also follows, it 
was to this effect : — 

. " If any one shall say that the episcopal power of ordain- 
ing, confirming, and teaching, was not instituted by Divine 
right, or that the power of jurisdiction which bishops pos- 
sess was not conferred [upon them] by Christ our Lord, in 
the Roman pontiff, his vicar, [a power] which is derived 
from himself, unto his bishops, when they are assumed unto 
a part of his solicitude, or that bishops are not superior to 
priests, let him be anathema." m 

Castagna and Lainez persuaded the Italian prelates to 
accede to this form, after some hesitation, and considerable 
vexation at so great a concession being made to the wishes 
of another nation ; but the more moderate among them 
wished only to secure tranquillity, and consented. But Soto 
was less fortunate in persuading the Spanish prelates, who 
objected to the words " unto a part of his solicitude." 

Seripando, also, who had been prevented by illness from 
being present at the last meetings, objected to the form 
now proposed, as being ambiguous — an error against which 
the pontiff had especially warned the legates. Another form 
was therefore prepared, to this effect : — 

u If any one shall say that it was not instituted by Christ, 
that in the Catholic Church there should be bishops, and 
that they, when assumed unto a part of the solicitude of 
the Roman pontiff, his vicar on earth, are not true and legi- 
timate bishops, superior to priests, and that same power 
which they have obtained up to the present time ; let him 
be anathema." 31 

m "Si quis dixerit, episcopalem potestatem ordinandi, confirmandi, 
docendi, non esse jure divino institutum, vel jurisdictions potestatem 
quam episcopi habent non esse a Christo Domino in pontifice Romano, 
ejus vicario, collatum, quae in episcopos, cum in partem sollicitudinis 
assumuntur, ab ipso derivatur, aut dicerit episcopos non esse presbyteris 
superiores : anathema sit." — Paleotto, p. 303. 

n "Si quis dixerit a Christo Domino non esse institutos episcopos, 
secundum quod antiqua universalis ecclesia patrumque traditu docet, 
ac perinde presbyteris non esse superiores : anathema sit." — Paleotto, 
p. 306. This is apparently given in an abridged form. I have followed 
Pallav. I. c. § 7. "It is remarkable," observes Mendham, speaking of 
the previous canon, " that Seripando, who, from ill health, was absent, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



369 



The archbishop of Granada objected to this, declaring 
that bishops are not called nnto a part of the solicitude of 
the Roman pontiff but are vicars of Christ, and not of the 
pope. He was subsequently answered by the archbishops of 
Lanciano and Taranto ; but the adherents of Granada kept 
increasing, chiefly from the persuasion that the decree con- 
sidered favourable to their wishes had been prepared and 
agreed to under Julius III. At length, however, the bishop 
of Telesia, u who had been secretary to J ulius, discovered 
that, so far from the canon in question having been prepared 
for publication in session, it had not even been examined in 
congregation." This was one point gained in favour of the 
legates. 

CHAPTER X. 

Proceedings of the Pontiff and of the Legates. 

We have already alluded to the desire of reformation 
evinced by Pius IV., a desire in which, so long as it was in 
no way likely to interfere with his own absolute prerogative, 
he really appears to have been sincere. During the debates 
we have described, he had been employed in various 
schemes for rectifying the abuses of the Roman court, and in 
securing the residence of bishops. Many matters appertain- 
ing to the first of these points had already been legislated 
for, and some abuses either done away with or ameliorated. 
u But one work/ 5 says Pallavicmo,P " yet remained, important 
beyond the rest, and upon the right settlement of which 
depends the soundness of the rest ; viz., the election of the 
chief pontiff." But the sketch which the cardinal proceeds 

condemned the canon, as more advantageous to the heretics than to his 
holiness, whose authority was too faintly recognised in it. The very 
words, divine right, were odious at Rome, where it was suspected that 
something even further was concealed under it " (p. 246). 

° Dr. Waterworth gives this canon as follows: — "The holy synod 
furthermore teaches, that those are not to be heard who assert that 
bishops are not instituted by divine right ; whereas it is most manifestly 
plain from the evangelic writings, that Christ our Lord himself called 
the apostles and promoted them to the rank of the apostleship ; in whose 
place bishops are set : nor is it to be thought that this so eminent and 
necessary a grade has been introduced into the Church by human insti- 
tution, for this would be to detract from and to lower the providence of 
God, as wanting in things the most noble " (p. ccvii.). 

p Pallav. xvii'i. 17. 

2 B 



370 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



to give is neither very copious nor very satisfactory. In 
fact, after reading his account of what reforms were agitated 
by the pontiff, we rise up with a painful feeling that, beyond 
general expressions of good feeling against improper influ- 
ence exercised at elections, the Christian world gained little 
or nothing. 

The first legate had meanwhile proposed a decree on 
residence, in which, agreeably to the advice of the pontiff, 
he avoided deciding on the origin of the duty, but attached 
certain rewards and punishments consequent on its fulfil- 
ment or non-fulfilment. It was well received, but the dis- 
cussion of its clauses was postponed for the present. 

On the 9th of November, chiefly at the earnest entreaties 
of Lanssac, it was agreed to postpone, not only the session, 
but likewise the congregations, until the arrival of the car- 
dinal of Lorraine and the French prelates, who were daily 
expected. The legates were the more willing to consent to 
this, both because the pontiff had requested them to wait 
ten or twelve days for the cardinal to arrive, and because 
they had hopes of meanwhile preparing matters appertaining 
to the business of the ensuing session, which had been 
neglected in consequence of the disputes respecting the 
seventh canon. Lanssac, satisfied with having gained the 
wished for delay, expressed Ins contentment at the decree 
on residence laid before him by the legates, repeating the 
assertion, that, so long as residence was insisted upon, he 
cared not upon what right it was supposed to rest. He 
then set out to meet the cardinal of Lorraine. 

% CHAPTER XL 

Remarks of Pallavieino on the altered Opinion of Pius IV. 

It would be injudicious to omit a curious passage in Pal- 
lavicino, which, besides giving him an excellent opportunity 
for attacking the Venetian historian on the score of omission, 
supplies us with some curious information. 4 

After confessing the truth of Father Paul's assertion, that, 
when the cardinal of Lorraine had entered Italy, the pope 
saw that it would be useless to hasten the business of the 



* Pallav. § 12, sqq. 



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371 



council, and accordingly gave order to the legates to pro- 
rogue the proceedings, Pallavicino states that he was igno- 
rant of another fact, which he would doubtless have turned 
to account, had he known of it; namely, that Pius sub- 
sequently changed his opinion, and sent an express to his 
legates, ordering them to proceed at once. His reasons 
seem to have been personal annoyance at the complaints of 
the representatives of princes, whenever the pontiff had 
recommended any course to be pursued under peculiar 
circumstances, whereas he was perpetually being harassed 
with requests to direct the proceedings of the council in some 
way agreeable to their wishes. Furthermore, he alleged that 
such delays as the present had been asked for, under the 
idea that the queen of England and the Protestants would 
submit themselves to the council, — a hope that had proved 
wholly fruitless, and naturally so, as they well knew, that a 
proscription would be the only reward of their appearance 
at the synod. 1 Again, the cardinal of Lorraine, as has 
already been mentioned, was suspected of advocating mea- 
sures little pleasing to the papal court, and of entertaining a 
great desire to conciliate the Huguenots. These, and various 
other suspicious acts of the French ministers, drove the pon- 
tiff to an alternative of sacrificing either his own credit or 
the public safety, and he sent orders to proceed at once with 
the synod. His commands, to the great delight of the 
legates, arrived too late. 

CHAPTER XII. 

Arrival of the Cardinal of Lorraine, 

The cardinal of Lorraine, to pursue the narrative in the 
words of Sarpi, entered Trent on the 13th s of November, 
and was met a mile on the way by Cardinal Madraccio and 
many prelates, and by all the legates at the gate of the 
city ;* from which place he was accompanied to the house 
where he was lodged. He rode between the cardinals 
Mantua and Seripando, which honour they thought neces- 
sary to render him, because the same was done unto him 

r This is admitted even by Pallavicino. 

8 Some say the 14th. Cf. Courayer, p. 415, n. 3. 

1 Not so ; but at some little distance from the city. 

2 b2 



372 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



by Monte and Sancta Croce, legates in Bologna, when the 
council was held in that city, at the time when lie went to 
Home for the cap. In the evening he went to visit the 
cardinal of Mantua, and had audience the next day before 
the legates, with the ambassadors Lanssac and De Fenders. 
He presented the king's letters directed to the council, and 
then made a long discourse, to show his inclination to serve 
the Apostolic See, promising to communicate all his designs 
to the pope, and to them, the legates, and not to desire any- 
thing but to the good satisfaction of his holiness. He said 
he would not be curious in unprofitable questions, adding 
that the two controversies, of the institution of bishops and 
of residence, which were spoken of everywhere, had dimi- 
nished the authority of the council, and taken away the good 
opinion the world held of it. For his own part he professed 
he was more inclined to the opinion which doth affirm them 
de jure divino ; yet, though it were certainly true, he saw 
no necessity or opportunity to j)roceed to the declaration 
thereof ; that the end of the council ought to be to reunite 
those to the Church who were separated ; that himself had 
been at a party with the Protestants, and had not found them 
so different but that they might be reduced, if the abuses were 
taken away, and that no time is more fit to win them than 
this, because it is certain they were never so united to the 
emperor as now ; that many of them, and in particular the 
duke of "Wittemberg, was willing to assist in council, but it 
was necessary to give him satisfaction by a beginning of 
reformation, in which the service of God did require that 
their excellencies should employ their labour. He showed 
the desire of the kimg- that fit remedies might be applied to 
the necessities of his people, seeing that as he had war now 
with the Huguenots, so, if the abuses were not provided against, 
he should have more to do with the Catholics, whose obe- 
dience will be quite lost ; that these were the causes why 
his majesty had sent him to the council. He complained 
that of all the money, which the pope promised to lend the 
king, he could receive but five and twenty thousand crowns, 
disbursed by the cardinal of Ferrara in regard of the limita- 
tions, put in the Mandates, because they could not be exacted 
but upon certain conditions, to take away the Pragmatics of all 
the parliaments of the kingdom — a thing of so great difficulty, 



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373 



that there was no hope ever to receive one penny. In the 
end he said he had brought new instructions to the ambas- 
sadors ; and therefore, when he had spoken to the synod in 
the king's name, in the first congregation, he would after- 
wards only deliver his suffrage as an archbishop, not meddling 
with the affairs of the kingdom, but leaving the care thereof 
to them. 

" The legates answered without consultation, as every one 
thought good, commending his piety and devotion towards 
the Apostolic See, and offering to impart all their affairs unto 
him. They showed what patience they used in suffering the 
liberty or rather the license of prelates, in their speeches, 
who went up and down, and moved new questions ; but 
now, his excellency being joined with them, they doubted 
not, but by his advice and assistance, they might be able to 
repress this great boldness, and compose the differences that had 
arisen, and proceed hereafter in so courtly a manner, that the 
world might receive edification, which before had conceived a 
bad opinion ; that the evil will of the Protestants was too 
much known; who, when they show themselves not averse 
from concord, it is not to be doubted but that they invent new 
occasions of greater difference ; that it is certain that they 
have demanded a council, because they thought it would be 
denied them, and at the same time, when they required it, 
they endeavoured by all means to hinder it, as now those 
who are assembled in Frankfort labour that it may not pro- 
ceed, and use means to the emperor to interpose some impe- 
diment ; that they hate the very name of the council, as 
much as of the pope \ neither have they formerly made any 
other use of it, than to cover and excuse their apostasy from 
the Apostolic See ; that there was no hope of their conversion, 
and therefore money only was to be used, to preserve the 
good Catholics in the true faith. They commended the 
piety and good intention of the king, and showed the desire 
of the pope for reformation, and what he had done to reform 
the court, not regarding the diminution of his own revenues ; 
and that he had always written to the council, that they 
would labour in the same business whereunto themselves the 
legates were much inclined and disposed, but were hindered 
by the contentions of the prelates, which consumed almost 
all the time ; that if, in France, there be danger to lose the 



374 



THE HISTOEY OF THE 



obedience of the Catholics, it is a matter to be treated of 
with his holiness. Concerning the loan of money, they said 
the fraternal charity of the pope towards the king and king- 
dom was so great, that they might be assured that the con- 
ditions were put in for pure necessity. And after divers 
compliments, they concluded that on Monday he should be 
received in the general congregation, to declare to the 
fathers the occasion of Ins coming, and to read unto them 
the king's letters." 11 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Further Proceedings. Speech of Lorraine. 

The congregations were resumed on the 1 6th of Novem- 
ber ; but as so great a number of prelates had arrived, some 
time was spent in arranging the etiquette of the assembly, 
as to the order of precedence, and the place to be taken by 
each prelate. But on the 23rd, the cardinal of Lorraine, 
who had been hindered from attending by an attack of fever, 
made his appearance for the first time in a general congre- 
gation; and, after he had been formally received by the 
legates, and the letters of the French king read, he spoke at 
some length, setting forth the unhappy state of religion in 
France. " I speak it in a word," said he, " and that with in- 
credible anguish of mind, — we were Frenchmen once: the 
glory of Frenchmen has departed. x And this just judgment 
of God," he continued, " has been provoked against us by the 
corrupt manners of every order, and the total downfall of 
ecclesiastical discipline. These disturbances have been stirred 
up by heresies being unsuppressed, and by the neglect ot 
those remedies which the Lord our God hath provided. 
Hence these tears, — these dissensions, pillagings, intestine 
and worse than civil warsJ Grief is everywhere, lamenta- 

u Brent's Sarpi, p. 624, ed. 1629. 

x The cardinal of Lorraine was a good classic, and took care to 
display it. This portion of his speech is quite a Yirgilian cento. Cf. 
for example, iEn. ii. 325 : — 

1 "fuimus Troes, fuit Ilium, et ingens 

Gloria Dardanidum." 
y Cf. Lucan, Phars. i. 1 : — 

u Bella per Emathios^to quam an'fo'acampos." 



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375 



tion everywhere, and the image of death on all sides. 2 Even 
the sacred and holy temples of God are not spared. Priests 
and holy men are murdered at the altars, which they em- 
brace in their dying moments. The visible signs of the 
sacraments are trodden under foot, and burnt. Piles of 
ornaments of the church are erected everywhere, and a pyre 
is raised to burn the torn-down images, for which the books, 
not only of the churches, but likewise of the most ancient 
libraries, are heaped up. The public archives are not re- 
spected. The relics of the saints are reduced to ashes, and 
cast into the waves. I shudder as I recount a the sad story; 
but neither the sepulchres of pontiffs, emperors, kings, 
princes, bishops, or any others, especially of those who have 
best deserved of the Church, are spared. The name of God 
is everywhere blasphemed ; the spirit of lying is in the 
mouths of all those who have falsely usurped the ministry of 
God, and, having driven away the shepherds, the thief and 
the robber, keeper of another man's flock, enters in." b 

I cannot give this oration at length; but the above ex- 
tract is sufficient to show that the ultra-Protestant party 
had committed outrages which, however provoked by the 
persecuting spirit of Pome, were little to their credit. At 
the same time, the outrages perpetrated by a mob, who per- 
haps look only to a riot as the means of chance plunder — 
the mad destruction of works of art, and the desecration of 
the remains of the dead — cannot be ascribed to the princi- 
ples of reformation. In all ages of the world, in every con- 
spicuous epoch of history, a certain spirit of Vandalism exists, 
which only needs occasion to develop. Public outrages are 
no more a proof of wrong principles, than the quiet and 
polite insinuations of the Jesuits were a warranty for their 
inoffensiveness. 

But to proceed. Whatever may have been the outrages 
wrought by the Huguenots ; however disturbed may have 
been the state of the whole kingdom, they had evidently 

z Yirg. ^En. ii. 368 :— 

" crudelis ubique 

Luctus, ubique pavor, et plurima mortis imago." 
a Virg. iEm ii. 204 : — " Horresco referens." 

b Paleotto p. 309 ; sq. Cf. Le Plat, v. v. p. 551, sqq. ; Pallav. xix. 
3, 3 ; Sarpi, vii. 32, and the authors cited by Courayer. 



376 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



gained their point in the mind of the cardinal. He felt cer- 
tain that the only way to restore peace was by such conces- 
sions as might, at all events, prevent the molestation of the 
moderate party; and by taking such steps towards reforma- 
tion as might give confidence in the synod, and take away 
the many scandals which disgraced the Eoman Church. He 
concluded his elegant and powerful oration with calling upon 
the assembly to avoid fresh dissensions, and to turn their 
attention from the discussion of minute and unimportant 
points, to the more serious subject of reform, and by pro- 
fessing his submission to the legates, his deep veneration for 
the sovereign pontiff, and for the holy assembly of the 
council. 

After a brief but polite speech from the cardinal of Mantua, 
the archbishop of Zara, who had been deputed for the purpose, 
gave a full reply to the speech of the cardinal of Lorraine. 
After expressing the sorrow felt by the synod for the distressed 
condition of France, he declared that the synod would do all 
in their power to make known the true worship of God, to 
reform manners, and to restore tranquillity to the Church, 
to which end they would more easily attain, if assisted by 
his excellency and the prelates by whom he was accom- 
panied. He spoke largely in commendation of the cardinal, 
and concluded by declaring that the synod thanked God for 
his coming, and gave him joy of it, and offered to give ear 
to whatever should be delivered by the ambassadors, in fit 
time and place, not doubting that it would be for the glory 
of God, the benefit of the Church, and the dignity of the 
Apostolic See. c 

The ambassador De Ferriers then spoke with some free- 
dom, and after setting forth the excellent disposition of the 
king towards religion, which was more clearly evinced by 
the coming of the cardinal, he went on to state that, a as 
touching the requests to be made, they would not be trouble- 
some nor obstinate in them ; that they demanded nothing 
but what all the Christian world demanded j that the most 
Christian king doth request that which Constantine the 
Great requested at the Council of Nice ; that all the demands 
are contained in Holy Scripture, in the old councils of the 



c Sarpi, p. 631. 



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377 



Catholic Church, and in the ancient constitution, decrees, and 
canons of the popes and fathers ; that the most Christian 
king doth demand the restitution of the Catholic Church to 
its integrity by means of them, the fathers, constituted by 
Christ as the chief judges, not by a decree with a general 
clause, but according to the form of the express words of 
that perpetual and divine edict, against which neither usurpa- 
tion nor prescription ever have, or can take place; so that 
those good orders, which the devil hath taken away by force 
and concealed a long time, may be restored, as it were out 
of captivity, to the holy city of God, and to the sight of 
men." d He concluded by declaring : "Unless the purposed 
reformation proceed, it is in vain that you ask us whether 
France be in peace ; for we shall reply, as Jehu did to King 
Joram, asking whether it were peace, — 6 What hast thou to 
do with peace so long as' — ye know the rest." 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Remarks on the Seventh Canon, Further Proceedings of Lorraine, 

On the 30th of October the second form of the doctrine 
and canons of the sacrament of Order was proposed. I have 
al ready e given the words of the seventh canon in their 
amended state, and have remarked that no point throughout 
the whole sittings of the council caused more vehement and 
renewed disputes, — in fact, it was, as Mendham f observes, 
" the standard, for the preservation, seizure, or recovery of 
which the most determined efforts of the two hostile ranks 
were employed, and which repeatedly came into the posses- 
sion of one or the other of them, according to the fortunes of 
this theologic war." 

To continue in the words of the same writer, — u It is 
hardly possible that the reader should not have observed 
throughout the preceding history, the extreme dread mani- 
fested by the pontiff of Rome at divine right anywhere but 
in himself. The first object of horror was the claim of such 
right as it respected residence ; but the divine right of resi- 

d Sarpi's report agrees strictly with the Acta of Paleotto, p. 317, sqq. 
It is to be observed that the term " usurpation " is, however, an incor- 
rect rendering of the Latin term "noncapio," as noticed by Pallavicino, 
I- c § 6. e Ch. ix. i P. 248. 



378 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



dence, and that of the episcopal order by which it was to be 
exercised, rested precisely upon the same foundation, and 
the latter was not in better favour than the former. Hence 
the pontifical advocates, with their clients, wished to amal- 
gamate the orders of bishop and presbyter in the one order 
of priest, assigning to the bishop no superiority but that of 
degree. Hence, too, the predilection for the hypothesis of 
a hierarchy, which, as it existed among the Jews, presented 
the alluring exemplar of a sacred society, composed of priests 
and their one ruler, the high priest alone. The simple supe- 
riority of a Christian bishop would not satisfy the aim and 
pretensions of the bishop of Rome, because his superiority 
was shared by many. The titles of archbishop, patriarch, 
and even primate, were as little satisfactory ; for there was a 
division of honour and authority in them. But the high 
priest on the Jewish model, in the Pontifex Maximus, as 
the perhaps more familiar and cherished heathen one, was a 
title which would answer every claim or desire, to its most 
ambitious extent, of a spiritual monarch, — the one head ot 
Christendom, the one successor of the chief of the apostles, 
the one vicar of Christ. It will excite no wonder that the 
election and coronation of so august a personage should be 
transferred from the Pontificale, which puts him in the com- 
pany of other bishops, to the Ceremoniale, which associates 
him with secular monarchs, with kings and emperors." 

CHAPTER XV. 

Further Discussions and Delays. 

Before I notice the discussions which took place upon the 
new form of the seventh canon, — which, from their extent 
and number, I shall be compelled to do in a very brief man- 
ner, — it will be well to state, that on the 25th of November, 
Seripando found that, owing to the lengthy disputes that 
had already taken place, and the unsettled state of the whole 
question, it would be impossible to hold the session on the 
following day, as had been announced. On this occasion he 
admonished the prelates, that the length of their discourses 
prevented the possibility of determining any certain day for 
the session, which must therefore be prorogued during plea- 
sure. He asserted that many of them spoke of abuses, not 
remembering that, to spend so much time in vain disputa- 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



379 



tions without any fruit, was the greatest abuse of all, and 
one which must be removed, if they desired to see the council 
brought to a reasonable termination. The cardinal of Lor- 
raine exhorted them to the same effect, urging them to 
despatch the matter already in hand, and to proceed at once 
to those of more serious importance. 

Some of the prelates were displeased at the indefinite pro- 
rogation of the session, and wished the time to be positively 
fixed. But the legates replied that this was impossible, since 
there was no telling when the present dispute would end. 
In conclusion, however, it was agreed that some time within 
eight days should be chosen for settling the length of the 
prorogation ; and on the 2nd of December, the 17th of that 
month was fixed for the day of session. It was also arranged 
that two congregations should be held each day, with the 
view of expediting the business in hand. 

To return to the disputes. The archbishop of Granada 
was as firm as ever in his resistance to the canon in its 
altered form. His chief objections were to the title assumed 
by the pontiff or vicar of Christ, since bishops were the 
successors of the apostles, and therefore vicars of Christ, 
acknowledging, however, a superior, who was vicar to them- 
selves, and who could change or remove from office other 
vicars. The second point he disliked was, the expression of 
bishops being called to a part of the pope's solicitude, since 
they ought to be spoken of as called by God, as in the Scrip- 
tures. Thirdly, that it contradicted a prior canon, to the 
effect that bishops were instituted by divine right. 

Several other fathers spoke to much the same effect; but 
the archbishop of Lanciano supported the canon, on the 
ground that the omission of the words " divine right " did 
not imply their denial, since all truths do not require to be 
expressed, especially when they might injure more important 
ones. Thus it was prohibited by a' synod to call Mary 
XpHTroTOKog, lest it should seem to exclude the other title of 
Qeotokoq. 

The bishops of Cajazzo and Zara cleverly observed, that it 
was nowhere stated that Christ instituted that there should 
be bishops, but that he created them himself. He of Chi- 
oggia, who had formerly been suspected of heterodoxy, now 
asserted that, as the pontiff was chief monarch, the nature of 



380 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



the hierarchy required that all powers, as rivers from their 
source, aud rays from the sun, should be derived from him. 

But among all the disputes which arose on this awkward 
subject, none were more fierce than the one which took 
place on the 1st of December. Melchior Avosmediano, 
bishop of Guadix, declared, " that it was strange that the 
offices of bishops should be treated of with such diligence, 
while not a word was said about their chief duty, to feed 
their flocks. As to the seventh canon, however, he said, 
that there were as many points of doubt in it as sentences. 
For instance, when it says that it ' was instituted that there 
should be bishops,' it does not explain whether there now 
are, or are to be hereafter. Again, when it speaks of bishops 
called unto a part of the pontiff's solicitude, it assumes that 
they are not true bishoj:>s, who are not called of the pope, 
which is false ; for he, who is created a bishop according to 
the first and fourth of the Apostles' canons, and agreeably 
to the statutes of the churches, is a true bishop, even if not 
called by the pope. For example, the archbishop of Salz- 
burg confirmed bishops elected by the chapter, who were 
true bishops ; and the same was the case in other in- 
stances." o 

Great was the uproar which arose. Simonetta had quietly 
interrupted the speaker, explaining that the archbishop con- 
secrated, but that his consecration was confirmed by the 
authority of the pontiff. But other prelates began to cry, 
" Out with him I Out with him [" Amd others, — " Let him be 
anathematized !" To whom, in turn, the archbishop of 
Granada exclaimed : "Be ye anathematized !" But the Spanish 
prelate continued his speech amidst the clamours, declaring 
that the pope was the supreme vicar of God, and that 
obedience was due to him as such, with other expres- 
sions more palatable to his audience, and concluded by 
rebuking them for their impatience in not hearing him out 
fairly. 

Much spiteful feeling was evidently displayed against the 
Spanish prelates on this occasion; nay, Pallavicino 11 himself 
observes, that the most outrageous and unjust part of the 
whole proceeding, was the transfer to the whole of the Spanish 
party, of the blame which one speaker had excited. 



s Paleotto, p. 342, sq. 



xix. 5, 6. 



COUNCIL OF TKEXT. 



381 



This display of childishness, this bandying of the stock 
expressions of heretic and blasphemer, in a manner and upon 
an occasion wholly unsuitable, and this gross infraction of the 
liberty of speech, which, although never possessed in reality, 
-was still too specious to be lost in effigy, bitterly displeased 
the legates. The cardinal of Mantua declared, that if so in- 
decent an exhibition took place again, he would withdraw 
from an assembly which so little knew how to respect his 
office. He of Lorraine was equally severe upon the offenders, 
and expressed a like intention to return to France, if such 
scenes took place. He especially animadverted upon the 
impious stupidity of flinging anathemas at each other; and 
expressed a hope that the legates would use their authority 
to punish any such offences in future. 1 

The bishop of Aliffe supported the same view as he of 
Guadix. and declared that, until the synod determined to the 
contrary, he should profess that bishops derived their power 
from Christ, and neither from St. Peter nor the pope. 
Hosius interrupted hini. saying, that there was now no dis- 
putation respecting the power of the pope. The archbishop 
of Granada claimed liberty for the speaker, who continued his 
address. Hosius then complained that much was said foreign 
to the purpose, and that the heretics, who did not deny the 
validity of bishops ordained by Christ, denied that of those 
ordained by the pope, which was therefore the point they 
were called upon to refute. The cardinal of Lorraine k then 
delivered a speech, which, despite its length, was listened 
to with delight. 

After setting forth the importance of the subject under 
discussion, and the impossibility of rightly ordaining sacred 
matters, without first defining who were the legitimate minis- 
ters of the sacraments, he proceeded to impugn the state- 
ment that, in every law, the priesthood had always been 
united; since, by the law of nature, all the first-born, such as 
Esau, were priests, yet did not all the first-born sacrifice. 
He also observed, as did Antonio Agostino, that the word 
servator was improperly preferred to salvator, as being devoid 
of ecclesiastical authority. Again, in the third chapter, he 

1 For a somewhat different account of this uproar, see Mendham, 
p. 251, note. I follow Paleotto, with whom Pallavicino substantially 
agrees. 

k This was on the 4 th of December. 



382 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



recommended omitting any definitions of the matter and 
form of the sacrament of Order — since the matter of this 
sacrament was not easy to define — but wished that the im- 
position of hands, so often mentioned in the Old Testament, 
in the ordination of priests, should be introduced. In all 
these particulars his opinion was followed ; but, in order 
not to define that the imposition of hands is necessary in the 
sacrament, the more general terms ivords and signs were 
used. As to the main question under debate, he expressed 
a desire that all ambiguity should be removed as to the 
meaning of the council ; that he did not approve of speci- 
fically defining the institution of episcopacy to be of divine 
right ; because it had been the cause of many controversies 
in the Church ; although there was no doubt entertained that 
the power of order in bishops was immediately from God ; as, 
in like manner, he believed, was the jurisdiction of bishops, 
as far as it concerns things supernatural; but that, in all 
others, the bishops were unequal to the Roman pontiff; 
that in these days, when the power of the Eoman see was 
conspired against in all directions, it was incumbent on them 
to avoid any act or word which might seem to assail or 
lower that authority. He then proposed the following brief 
canon as an emendation of the seventh : If any one shall say 
that bishops were not instituted by Christ in the Church, or 
that they are not, by holy ordination, superior to priests : let 
him be anathema. 1 

The rest of the French prelates then proceeded to deliver 
their opinions, the greater part of which were in favour of 
the cardinal's views, although some of them inclined towards 
the Spaniards. Lainez was the last speaker, and he denied 
that the jurisdiction of bishops was derived from any but the 
pontiff. 

When the dispute was at length concluded, the opinions 
passed upon the conduct of the disputants were as various 
as might have been expected. Although, as Father Paul 
observes, the French and Spaniards had the same end, viz., 
to provide against the ambition and avarice of the papal 
court, yet they went different ways to work in order to 
attain their object. Equally different were the opinions 



1 Pallav. xix. 6, 2-4. 



COUNCIL OF TEEST. 



383 



formed of their proceedings by the Italian prelates. It was 
said that the Spanish prelates had been less mindful of the 
authority of the chief pontiff than they would confess ; that 
their great aim was to free themselves from the power of the 
bishop of Seville, the chief inquisitor of Spain. Another 
party asserted, that their only view was for the increase of 
their own power and independence, at the expense of the 
authority of the Roman see. Others gave them credit for 
conscientious motives, and attributed their conduct to zeal 
for the welfare of the Church. As to the French, although 
the cardinal of Lorraine had always in public rebuked those 
who delayed the business of the council by disputes about 
the power of the pope or council, nevertheless they had all 
taken opportunity to introduce the obnoxious subject, and 
more especially the archbishop of Metz, formerly tutor to 
the cardinal. Lorraine laboured hard to exculpate himself 
from the suspicion that attached to him in consequence, and 
told the legates, that, whatever mistakes he might commit 
through imprudence, he was incapable of dissimulation 
and cunning. Simonetta smiled, and taking him blandly by 
the hand, said that he had certainly heard reports to that 
effect. 

Paleotto, m affcerrelating this anecdote, expresses his surprise 
that the fathers should have almost all fallen upon this point 
of jurisdiction, — a subject neither proposed nor necessary, 
nor fitted to the times, — while they neglected other matters 
of doctrine, or handled them but lightly. And hence, he 
continues, many other things were called in question, which 
are matters of controversy, not with the heretical, but among 
theologians and canonists, and which ought therefore to have 
been avoided, as only tending to nourish division and sects 
among the fathers, without any advantage. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Lorraine is consulted by the Legates. The Seventh Canon is again altered. 
Dissatisfaction of the French. 

The legates, vexed to find that they made no progress, but 
rather got further involved in difficulties, determined to con- 

m P. 357. The remarks of Paleotto, which follow, on the views of 
the papal authority over bishops, are very important and useful. 



384 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



suit with the cardinal of Lorraine, and entreat him to 
interpose his aid in removing so many controversies. 

In obedience to their wishes, Lorraine remodelled the 
seventh canon under the form of two new ones, to this 
effect : n — 

1. If any one shall say, that bishops were not instituted 
by Christ in the Church ; or, that they are not, by their 
ordination, greater than priests ; or, that they have not the 
power of ordaining ; or, if they have, that they have it in 
common with priests ; or, that orders conferred by them 
without the consent and calling of the people, are null ; let 
him be anathema. 

2. If any one shall say, that Peter was not, by the institu- 
tion of Christ, first among the apostles, and the supreme 
vicar [of Christ] ; and that it is not necessary that there be 
in the Church a supreme pontiff, the successor of Peter, and 
his equal in authority of governing ; and that, in the Roman 
see his successors up to this time have not had the right of 
primacy in the Church ; let him be anathema. 

These canons , seemed likely to prove as unsatisfactory as 
in the previous form, and the legates determined to send to 
Pome. Accordingly, a courier was despatched, with a copy of 
the proposition made by the cardinal of Lorraine, as well as 
of the opinions of certain canonists thereupon, showing that 
the papal authority was in question, and requesting his holi- 
ness' commands. The cardinal, when he heard of this, com- 
plained that, having given the copy before he spoke in the 
congregation, the legates had appeared satisfied with it, but 
now showed distrust. He said that he thought it strange 
that fear was shown of everything done either by himself or 
by the French prelates. He complained that his own nation 
was wronged by the Italians, and declared that he himself 
heard an Italian prelate use the coarse saying, which was 
already popular about Trent : Dalla scabie Spagnuola siamo 
caduti net mat Francese. 

n This seems the proper place for mentioning these two new canons, 
although Pallavicino, xix. 6, 4, does not distinctly state when they were 
put forth. It seems evident from Paleotto, p. 361, that they were pro- 
posed just before the legates sent to Rome to communicate with the 
pontiff. Dr. Waterworth, p. ccx., has merely placed them in a note, 
without referring them to any particular time. 

Sarpi, p. 562, ed. 1619. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



385 



The same author proceeds to mention a curious fact, not a 
little proving how imperfect was the freedom of the debates, 
even in the private congregations, and in how much dread 
the legates were of the French prelates. 

On the 7th of December, the French, provoked at the 
uncertainty of the proceedings, agreed that the cardinal of 
Lorraine should not be present^ and that their prelates who 
were to speak should use perfect freedom, and that, if they 
were found fault with for so doing, their ambassadors should 
protest. Although they urged the obnoxious question of 
the divine right, they were heard with attention. They 
ventured to allege that the institution and jurisdiction of 
bishops was of divine right : that there was no difference 
but in degree of superiority, and that the pope's authority is 
confined within the limits of the canons. They .commended 
the conduct of the parliaments of France, who, if any papal 
bull was presented containing anything contrary to the 
canons there received, pronounce it to be abusive, and pro- 
hibit its execution. " This liberty, 5 ' adds Father Paul, " made 
the pontiff's party use more respect in their speeches, although 
the prettiness of the proverb pleased some of the livelier 
prelates so well, that they could not forbear to use it."^ 

^$mwod* CHAPTER XVIL 

Further Changes in the Canon. 

The legates, still wishing to keep on friendly terms with 
Lorraine , at the instigation of Cardinal Borromeo, explained 
to him. through the medium of two other prelates, the 
difficulties involved in the present draft of the canon, and 
sought to disarm him of any suspicion of unfair play. A new 
canon was the result, which still dissatisfied his holiness ; and 
another was suggested, which in turn was objected to by the 
mediators, as reducing the pontiff to a mere instrument. 

p The death of the king of Xavarre furnished an excuse for the car- 
dinars absence. Courayer well observes that this was not only an 
excuse but a sufficient reason, of which, however, the cardinal was per- 
haps not sorry to avail himself. The reader doubtless recollects that the 
king of Navarre had favoured the Protestant party. 

q " Se ben la bellezza del motto proverbiale incitava qualche velta 
alcuni de' prelati allegri a non astenersene." 



386 



THE HISTOHY OF THE 



Much deliberation took place, and it was resolved that the 
subject should be reconsidered, and another meeting be con- 
vened. Another was prepared, more satisfactory as concerned 
the papal interests, yet it failed to pass. 

While these matters were occupying much anxious con- 
sultation, the expected advices came from the pontiff, which 
threw the whole affair into still greater confusion. Not 
only were many alterations recommended in the old decree, 
but it was likewise advised, that an eighth canon should be 
drawn up, in which the primacy and supreme authority of 
his holiness should be amplified, or at least confirmed. 
These letters were accompanied with long annotations. 

The legates perceived that, if such a canon as the one 
suggested were to be promulgated, a long dispute would be the 
result, and some still more serious controversies would arise 
therefrom. They therefore thought it better to point out 
these difficulties to his holiness, than to stir up fresh matter 
of disturbance. Agreeably, however, to the pontiff's advice, 
they communicated with the cardinal of Lorraine, and at 
length agreed to the following threefold form of the seventh 
canon, together with an eighth appended. 

7. If any one shall say, that bishops received by the 
Homan pontiff into a part of the solicitude, are not set by the 
Holy Ghost to rule the Church of God in that part, unto 
which they are assumed, or that by holy ordination they, 
Ac. : or 

If any one shall say, that the order or grade of episcopacy 
in the Church was not instituted by Christ : or 

If any one shall say, that there were no bishops constituted 
in the Church by Christ, or that by holy ordination they are 
not greater than priests, &c. 

8. If any one shall say, that the blessed Peter, by the 
institution of Christ, was not the first among the apostles, 
and [Christ's] vicar upon earth, or that it is not necessary 
that there be in the Church one pontiff, the successor of Peter, 
and equal with him in the authority of government, and 
that his successors in the Poman see up to the present time 
had not the right of primacy in the Church ; that there was 
not a father, pastor, and teacher of all Christians what- 
soever, and that the full power of feeding, ruling, and 
governing the universal Church, was not delivered to the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



387 



same by our Lord J esus Christ, in the blessed Peter : let 
him be anathema. 

Seripando had hopes that tranquillity would be restored, 
if the present opportunity were not allowed to slip ; 'but it 
proved the cause of some dissension. The cardinal of Lorraine 
at first appeared favourable to the proposed canon ; but at 
night he sent for the auditor, and made many objections. 
The legates felt disappointed at losing the support they had 
no reason to hope for, and their vexation was increased by 
the prelates, who were offended by the terms " universal 
Church," applied in such a manner as to presuppose the 
superiority of the pope to a council. Measures of different 
kinds were vainly tried, and the legates found themselves, in 
the April of 1563, as far off as ever from a settlement of the 
vexata qucestio. 1 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Decree of Residence. Prorogation of the Council. 

Meanwhile the decree concerning residence, which had 
been already proposed on the 6th of November, was, with a 
few modifications of the penalties against non-residence, and 
of the limitations of absence, proposed in congregation on 
the 10th of December. Although the proceedings on both 
questions were simultaneous, it has been thought advisable 
by most writers to treat of them distinctly, to avoid the 
confusion which would otherwise ensue. Nevertheless, so 
mixed up were the two questions of order and residence^ 
that the arguments for both are substantially the same, and 
the question of residence has already occupied a sufficient 
space in our pages. s The cardinal of Granada stanchly 
maintained his former opposition ; another prelate quaintly 
and sensibly observed, that he could not understand the 
doctrine of those, who, while acknowledging that bishops 
were divinely commanded to feed their flocks, did not state in 
what manner they were to be fed. Some objected to the 
severity of the punishments denounced against non-residence; 
others were equally opposed to the rewards ; and some 

r I have followed Paleotto, to whom I shall return in due course, 
when we come to the death of the legates. 

s The arguments on residence will be found at length in Paleotto, 
p. 409, sqq. * 

2 c 2 



388 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



thought that there ought to be no rewards whatever for the 
performance of a plain and necessary duty. The bishop of 
Necanata declared that he had been a constant resident in 
his own church, never having been absent fourteen days ; 
and he wished the fathers would exert all their power to do 
away with the perpetual residence at Trent, and to shorten the 
speeches, observing that the churches were suffering severely 
from the very evil which they were talking about redressing.* 
On the 16th of December, Seripando remarked that it 
would be madness to attempt to prove the obvious necessity 
for a farther prorogation of the session ) but that it was for 
the fathers to determine whether the day for it should be 
left undefined, or whether they should fix upon a time 
within the ensuing fifteen days. The latter proposal was 
unanimously approved. 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Departure of Viscontifor Rome. 

On the 26th of December, in obedience to the wish 
expressed by the pontiff in a previous communication, Vis- 
conti set out for Rome, with the view of exculpating the 
legates from the charges laid against them, and to represent 
the difficulties with which they had been compelled to 
struggle, the disturbances caused by the Spanish prelates, 

1 " Of one speech," observes Mendham, in a note, " some account 
may be given for the sake of nationality, if for nothing else. It is one 
of an Irish bishop, but which of the three, who were all made by- 
Pius IV., and came to Trent on the same day, our author does not say. 
This prelate objected to the clause forbidding prelates to be in the 
councils of princes ; for, said be, but for the contraiy, religion would be 
annihilated in many kingdoms. In Queen Mary's time, he adds, there 
was a contest at the council-board between two rival bishops, claimants 
of the same see, the one a Catholic, the other a heretic. The first 
pleaded that his adversary should be deprived, because he had obtained 
the see from a schismatic king, Henry VIII., upon which he was judged 
guilty of treason. 'Hear me,' he replied; 'if Henry was a Catholic, 
the consequence is necessary, that the queen is a schismatic, or the con- 
trary : choose which you like best.' Upon this he was acquitted, and 
obtained the bishopric. He opposed the clause, additionally, because 
the heretic would say, that such bishops as took a share in the councils 
of princes were chargeable with mortal sin, as the Polish ambassador 
had affirmed." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



389 



and the impossibility of using sharper means of appeasing 
them. He was also to excuse the apparent shortness of the 
time during which the session had been put off — a fact 
which led to its still farther prorogation — and to give an 
account of the proceedings of the cardinal of Lorraine, which 
they stated had proved much less adverse to the Roman 
pontiff than had been feared. In fact, that, from his pre- 
vious conduct, they had every reason to expect that he 
would fall in with the wishes of Pius, and that the result 
would be favourable. 

After this, the further purport of his mission was to offer 
three questions to his holiness. 1. Whether, if nothing 
could be found likely to give general satisfaction in regard 
to the seventh canon, it was to be suppressed by the legates, 
even if any danger seemed to threaten ; for example, if the 
Spaniards, who were so desirous thereof, should absent 
themselves from the session, and matters should seem to 
threaten a breaking up of the council and a schism. 2. If 
they found it impossible, as touching the article of residence, 
to hinder the fathers in a friendly manner from entering 
upon the dangerous question, whether the legates might 
apply force to restrain them, by making use of their absolute 
power ; or whether the fathers should be left free to pursue 
the question, and decree accordingly. 3. If the French 
should urge any proposition obnoxious to the authority of 
the Apostolic See, whether they were to be hindered by the 
legates ; and whether they were, under such circumstances, 
to pay no attention to the annoyance which had been excited 
in Spain and elsewhere by the clause, " the legates pro- 
posing," which had been looked upon as a chain that tied the 
fathers hand and foot ; or whether, even supposing the pon- 
tifical authority were called in question, they should permit 
that question to be proposed. 11 

The fifteen days had now nearly elapsed ; but, as many 
of the fathers had still to deliver their opinions, the session 
was again, for the fifth time, prorogued, and a like space 
of fifteen clays left for fixing a day. On the last of 
these days, the 4th of February, 1563, was fixed upon, and 



u Pallav. xix. 9, 4-5. 



390 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Cardinal Madrucci, and the cardinal of Lorraine, were de- 
puted to make such alterations in the decree on residence as 
seemed to be required. 



Before proceeding to the turning point in the history of 
this vexatious and unsatisfactory session, it will be well to 
take a brief glance at some of the affairs of the latter part of 
the previous year, which bear most closely on the council. 
Father Paul states, that the death of the king of Navarre 
caused a great change in the designs of the cardinal of Lor- 
raine. " For that king had had no inconsiderable hand in the 
commission given to the cardinal at his departure; so that 
he was uncertain, at his death, whether the queen and others 
would continue in the same heat. Besides, he saw a manifest 
change in the whole government, and therefore desired to be 
in France, that himself might bear part of it also. For the 
prince of Conde, being at open enmity and distrust with the 
queen and her party, the cardinal of Bourbon incapable, 
Montpensier's reputation doubtful, and the constable old and 
infirm, he had hopes that his brother might take the leading 
power over the army, while himself conducted the cabinet. 
He ruminated upon these things, and thought much less of 
the council, or of Trent. The other Frenchmen openly said, 
that they had reason to thank God for the death of the king, 
because he had begun to waver, and to join his own interests 
with those of his brother and the Huguenot party." 

As soon as the diet was assembled in Frankfort, the prince 
of Conde sent to solicit assistance from the Protestant 
princes, and to treat of a union with the Huguenots, as well 
as with those who maintained the Confession of Augsburg. 
He also repeated the demand so often urged for a new and 
free council, in which the decrees of Trent should be can- 
vassed afresh. 

The new king of Bohemia was anointed and crowned at 
Prague, in the presence of his father, the emperor, by the 
archbishop of that city, who had come from Trent for that 
purpose, in order that the king might have a voice in the 
Imperial diet. On reaching Frankfort, they were compelled 



CHAPTER XX. 

Various Events towards tlw Close of the Year 1562. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 391 

to wait until the vacant archbishopric of Cologne was filled 
up by the canons, and this gave time for much discussion of 
matters little agreeable to the Roman see. In fact, fear 
was entertained that the diet would send to Trent to pro- 
test, and that some new form would be used in the coro- 
nation, to the abolition of the old, which would manifest a 
disposition to depart from the ancient rites, or that the new 
king would make some promise injurious to the pope's 
prerogative. 

" But," continues Father Paul, " the emperor and the king 
used much art to prevent the handling of religious topics 
before the election of the archbishop. x At the coronation 
the only innovation was, that the electors and other Pro- 
testant princes stood at mass until the Gospel was read, 
and then went out. After the ceremonies were over, the 
emperor began to practise with some of the Protestants, 
that they would adhere to the Council of Trent ; who, not to 
be prevented assembling themselves together, presented to 
the emperor the answer which, twenty months before, they 
had promised to his ambassador in the assembly at Nam* 
bergs, in which, having declared the causes why they had, 
and did still appeal to a free council, they added the fol- 
lowing conditions, upon which they were willing to assist at 
a future general council. 1. That it should be celebrated in 
Germany. 2. That it should not be intimated by the pope. 
3. That he should not preside, but be part of the council, 
subject to the determination thereof 4. That the bishops 
and other prelates should be freed from their oath given to 
the pope, that they may freely and without impediment 
deliver their opinions. 5. That the holy Scripture might be 
judge in the council, and all human authority excluded. 
6. That the divines of the states of the Augustan confession 
sent to the council, might not only have a consulting but 
deciding voice also, and might have a safe-conduct both for 
their persons and for the exercise of their religion. 7. That 
the decisions in council should not be made as in secular 
matters, by plurality of voices, but the more sound opinions 
preferred, that is, those which were regulated by the hand 

x This took place Nov. 24th, and the coronation on the last day of 
the same month. Cf. Courayer, p. 440. 



392 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



of God. 8. That the acts of the Council of Trent should be 
made void, because it is partial, celebrated by one part only, 
and not governed according to promise. 9. That if a con- 
cord in religion cannot be concluded in the council, the con- 
ditions of Passau may remain inviolable ; and that the peace of 
religion, made in Augsburg, in the year 1555, may continue 
in strength and force, and every one bound to observe it. 
10. That concerning the aforesaid conditions a fit and 
sufficient caution be given." 

The emperor, having received this statement of their 
wishes, promised to do all in his power to secure concord, and 
to use means to procure the celebration of the council, in 
such a manner as to leave them no plea for refusing to attend 
thereat. To this end, he offered to go in person to Trent, 
and resolved to pass on to Inspruck, as soon as the diet was 
ended, as, being then but four days' journey from the seat of 
the council, he would be enabled to take all necessary 
measures. 

Another event, still more calculated to afflict the pontiff, 
was the death of his nephew, Friderico Borromeo, upon whom 
he had lavished all the favours and advantages that the 
papacy could bestow, and to whose aggrandizement he had 
looked as the means of raising the glory of his house. Sick- 
ness and low spirits pressed heavily on him, and he sought to 
make the council a diversion from the sadness of his own 
thoughts. He held repeated congregations at Rome respect- 
ing the two questions of the divine institution of bishops, 
and of residence, which were thought by the whole court to 
be little favourable to the pontifical authority. He was 
more especially troubled by the designs of the French, who 
seemed to be egged on by the cardinal of Lorraine, and 
whose demands were more and more disagreeable, and whose 
language grew more threatening ever day. The Italians 
shared in the alarm of the court. " Either," said they, 51 the 
oouncil will go on, or it will be dissolved. In the former 
oase, especially if the pope should die in the interim, the 
ultramontanes will fashion the conclave after their own 
views, and to the detriment of Italy ; they will circumscribe 
the pope to a mere bishop of Rome ; under the pretext of 
reform, they will destroy all offices, and ruin the whole curia. 
Should it, on the other hand, be dissolved without having 



1 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 393 

effected anything desirable, even the faithful will take great 
offence thereat, and the waverers will run extraordinary risk 
of being lost altogether." y 

A solemn embassy from the duke of Bavaria passed by 
Trent on its way to Borne, to solicit the communion of the 
chalice, and were privately received by the first legate, and 
by the cardinal of Lorraine. This aroused the old contro- 
versy, which had for some time slumbered in silence ; and the 
Spaniards and Italians both felt annoyed at the idea of that 
permission being given, while the council was yet sitting. 
" All the fathers," observes Father Paul, " were in a hurly- 
burly, because letters came from Borne to divers prelates, 
that the council should be suspended; which report was con- 
firmed by Don John Mauriques, who passed by Trent, on his 
way from Germany to Borne. But the legates, having re- 
ceived the pope's letters, thought it impossible to execute the 
orders he had sent, and that it was necessary to give him a 
more particular account of the occurrences than could be 
done by writing, and make him understand that the council 
cannot be governed as they at Borne think it can, that they 
might receive a more plain instruction from his holiness 
what xhey should do." z The bishop of Ventimiglia was 
accordingly despatched on this errand. 

On the 28th of December, news reached Trent of the 
battle fought on the 17th of the month, a in which the prince 
of Conde was taken prisoner. The whole kingdom, as has 
before been observed, was in a sadly turbulent condition, and 
those religious differences, which at first gave rise to petty 
skirmishes, ended in a furious and destructive war. The 
Huguenots had increased in numbers, and, by their firm 
adherence to the prince of Conde, provoked the constable of 
Bourbon and the house of Guise. A league was accordingly 
formed against fchem, and a party set out, slaying the 
Huguenots wherever they met with them; and, proceeding 
to Paris, they persuaded first the king of Navarre, and then 
the queen, to join with them. The prince left Paris, and 
retired, with his adherents, to Orleans ; and manifestoes and 

l Banke, p. 81. z Brent, p. 647. 

a There is considerable doubt as to the exact day on which this battle 
was fought. Cf. Courayer, p. 450, who has compared authorities with 
his accustomed diligence. 



394 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



writings passed on both sides, each protesting that they acted 
only for the liberty and service of the king. " But the con- 
stable and Guise waxing every day stronger, in April the 
prince wrote to all the reformed churches of France, de- 
manding soldiers and money, and declaring war against the 
defenders of the Catholic party, calling them disturbers of 
the public quiet, and violaters of the king's edict, published 
in favour of the reformists. The prince's letters were accom- 
panied with others of the minister of Orleans, and of some 
other cities, which caused those of that religion to arm. 
And there fell out an accident which did incite them more ; 
for, at the same time, the edict of J anuary was published 
again in Paris, with an addition, that neither in the suburbs 
of the city, nor within the space of a league, any assembly 
of religion should be held, or sacraments administered, but 
after the old rites. And in the end of May, the king of 
Navarre made all the reformists go out of Paris, proceeding, 
however, with great moderation. 

" War broke out," continues our animated historian, " in 
all the provinces of France, between the parties ; and that 
summer there were at the least fourteen formal armies, all at- 
one time, in divers parts of the kingdom. The sons fought 
against their fathers, brothers against brothers, and even 
women took arms on different sides, for defence of their reli- 
gion. There was scarcely any part in Dauphine, Languedoc, 
and Gascoigne, which was not vexed oftentimes, the Catholics 
remaining conquerors in some places, and the reformists in 
others, with such a variety of accidents, as would be tedious 
to repeat. Where the Huguenots overcame, the images were 
beaten down, the altars destroyed, the churches spoiled, and 
the ornaments of gold and silver melted to make money for 
soldiers' pay ; where the Catholics v> ere conquerors, they 
burned the bibles in the vulgar tongue, re-baptized children, 
and re-married those who had been married according to the 
new ceremonies. And the condition of the clergy on both 
sides was most miserable, who, wheresoever they were taken, 
were cruelly murdered. In July the parliament of Paris 
made a decree that it should be lawful to slay all the 
Huguenots, which, by public order, was read every Sunday 
in every parish. Afterwards they added another, declaring 
them rebels, public enemies, themselves infamous, and all 



COUNCIL OF TREXT. 



395 



their posterity, and the goods of those who took arms in 
Orleans, confiscated, except Conde, upon pretence that they 
held him by force. And, although there were many treaties 
between the parties, and a verbal conference also between 
the queen-mother and the prince, yet such was the ambition 
of the grandees, that it was impossible to find out any means 
of composition. 

" But the king of Navarre being dead, who perhaps would 
not have suffered them to proceed to an open war, the 
queen, resolving to regain obedience with arms, demanded aid 
of all the princes; and because the people of the Low 
Countries did learn, by this example, to be more contuma- 
cious and obstinate, the king's authority diminished every 
day, and could not be repaired by the governors. And the 
king refused to go thither to oppose his person against the 
ill -disposition of the people, and the designs of the grandees, 
as Gran veil, the chief in that government, had given him 
counsel. For that wise king knew how dangerous it was to 
be contemned to his face, and doubted that, instead of 
gaining Flanders, he should make it more contumacious, and, 
in the mean time, lose Spain. But he thought that, by sub- 
duing the Frenchmen, who rebelled against their king, he 
might make an absolute provision against the contumacy of 
his own subjects ; and therefore he offered the queen great 
assistance of men and money, sufficient to subject the whole 
kingdom unto her. But the queen refused the men, and 
demanded the money, knowing that if she had received a 
Spanish army, she would have been forced to govern France, 
not according to her own interests, but those of the king of 
Spain. Yet taking a middle course, she received six thousand 
men, with which, and with her own forces, conducted by the 
constable and the duke of Guise, the battle was fought the 
day aforesaid, in which three thousand Huguenots and five 
thousand Catholics were slain, and the generals on both sides, 
Conde and the constable, taken prisoners. Neither of the 
armies was discomfited, by virtue of the lieutenants on both 
sides, Guise for the Catholics, and Coligny for the Huguenots. 
The queen made Guise general, which did not deter Coligny 
from maintaining his army, preserving the places he possessed, 
and making some progress also." 

The news of the emperor's intended journey to Inspruck 



396 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



gave much alarm to the pontiff, who felt certain that neither 
the will to plot mischief, nor the power to execute it, would 
be wanting. He therefore resolved to go in person to 
Bologna; to send eight or ten cardinals to Trent; to make 
greater alliances with the Italian princes, and to confirm the 
prelates as his adherents in the council, until he could find 
some occasion to dissolve or suspend it. And to hinder all 
proceedings in Trent respecting the reformation of the 
Roman court, he took much pains with it himself, publishing 
a brief, dated December 27th, in which he ordained that no 
auditor should proceed to a definitive, howsoever plain the 
case might be, before he made the proposition to the whole 
college, without consent of the parties ; that the sentences, 
propounded in writing, should be produced within fifteen 
days ; that the causes of the auditors themselves, or of their 
kinsfolk unto the second degree, or of any of their family, 
should not be heard in the Rota ; that the parties should not 
be forced to receive an advocate ; that no decision should be 
made against those which be printed, except two-thirds of 
the voices do consent ; and that they should be bound to 
remit every cause which seemed to be criminal. In the same 
document he likewise made a tax for the moderation of fees, 
and by other bulls reformed the signature of justice, the 
tribunals of Rome, and the office of the fiscal advocate, 
ordaining what fees they should receive. " But," observes 
Father Paul, " the usual extortions were so far from being 
redressed by those provisions, that, by transgressing the new 
orders, they learned to violate the old, which were in some 
use." 

The courtiers had thought that the Huguenots were com- 
pletely crushed by the late battle, and were proportionately 
glad. But the pontiff was more moderate in his opinions of 
that affair ; and, finding that the Catholic forces were not 
augmented, while those of the Huguenots exhibited no signs 
of diminution, as well as that this battle would give occasion 
for a treaty of peace, by which he would be prejudiced, and 
the council would suffer, he felt more and more troubled. 

Such is, in brief, a summary of the events which tended to 
place the affairs of the council on the unsatisfactory footing 
in which the pontiff found them at the beginning of the 
year 1563. We can scarcely do better than, leaving the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



397 



assembly still at Trent, employed in the disputes already 
mentioned, to proceed with the other events which preceded 
the death of the two legates. 

CHAPTEE XXI. 

Thirty-four Demands presented by the French Ambassador. 

On the 3rd of January the French ambassadors laid 
before the legates a series of propositions; and having pub- 
licly read them, sent a copy on the following day, entreat- 
ing that they might be proposed in the synod, by whose 
determinations they alleged that the king was every way dis- 
posed to abide. The legates, having asked time to deliberate, 
went to the cardinal of Lorraine, and asked him whether the 
demands made were according to his own views, at the same 
time wondering that, whereas he had promised that all mat- 
ters should be communicated to the pontiff, before they were 
proposed in council, the French ambassadors were now so 
urgent for their being proposed immediately. Thirdly, they 
found fault with the publication of such documents, until the 
inclination of the pontiff had been first ascertained. 

The cardinal, in answer to the first question, expressed his 
disapprobation of some of the demands, and declared that he 
had only been prevented from procuring their alteration by 
his exertions to prevent 'still more obnoxious proposals, such 
as the abrogation of annats, being urged. As to the second 
point, he ascribed the hurry of the ambassadors to the desire 
of exculpating themselves from the charge of protracting the 
business of the synod to an unnecessary length. Thirdly, 
he stated that the publication of the documents had been in 
obedience to the wishes of many of the fathers, especially 
those of the Italian party. 

The demands were to the following effect, being thirty- 
four in number : — 1. That priests should not be ordained 
before they were old, and had a good testimony of the 
people that they had lived well 3 and that their carnalities and 
transgressions should be punished according to the canons. 
2. That holy orders should not be conferred at the same 
time when the inferior were, but that every one should be 
approved in the one before he ascended to the other. 3. That 
a priest should not be ordained before he had a benefice or 



398 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ministry, according to the Council of Chalcedon, at which 
time a presbyterian title without an office was not heard of. 
4. That the due function should be restored to deacons and 
other holy orders, that they may not seem to be bare names 
and for ceremony only. 5. That the priests and other 
ecclesiastical ministers should attend to their vocation, not 
meddling in any office, but in the Divine ministry. 6. That 
a bishop should not be made but of a lawful age, manners, 
and doctrine, that he may teach and give example to the 
people. 7. That no parish priest should be made but of 
approved honesty, able to instruct the people, celebrate the 
sacrifice, administer the sacrament, and teach the use and 
effect of them to the receivers. 8. That no abbot or con- 
ventual prior should be created, who hath not studied 
divinity in some famous university, and obtained the degree 
of master, or some other. 9. That the bishop by himself, or 
by other preachers, as many as are sufficient, according to 
the proportion of the diocese, should preach every Sunday 
and holy day, and in Lent on fasting days, and in Advent, 
and as often as it shall be fit. 10. That the parish priest 
shall do the same as often as he hath auditors. 11. That 
the abbot and conventual prior shall read the Holy Scrip- 
tures, and institute an hospital, so that the ancient schools 
and hospitality may be restored to the monasteries. 12. That 
bishops, parish priests, abbots, and other ecclesiastics, unable 
to perform their charge, shall receive coadjutors, or leave 
their benefices. 13. That concerning the catechism and 
summary instruction of Christian doctrine, that should be 
ordained which the emperor hath proposed to the council. 
14. That no man should have more than one benefice, taking 
away the differences of the quality of persons, and of benefices 
compatible and incompatible, a new division not heard of in 
the ancient decrees, and a cause of many troubles in the 
Catholic Church ; and that the regular benefices should be 
given to regulars, and secular to seculars. 15. That he who 
hath two or more shall retain that only which he shall 
choose within a short time, or shall incur the penalty of the 
ancient canons. 1 6. That to take away all note of avarice 
from the clergy, nothing be taken upon any pretence whatso- 
ever for the administration of holy things, but that provision 
be made that the curates, with two clerks or more, may have 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



399 



whereon to live and maintain hospitality, which may be done 
by the bishops by uniting benefices, or assigning tenths unto 
them ; or where that cannot be done, that the prince may 
provide for them by subvention, or collections imposed upon 
the parishes. 17. That in parish masses, the Gospel be ex- 
pounded clearly, according to the capacity of the people ; and 
that the prayers which the parish priest maketh together 
with the people be in the vulgar tongue; and that the sacri- 
fice being ended in Latin, public prayers be made in the 
vulgar tongue likewise ; and that at the same time, or in 
other hours, spiritual hymns or psalms of David, approved 
by the bishop, may be sung in the same language. 18. That 
the ancient decree of Leo and G-elatius, for the communion 
under both kinds, be renewed. 19. That before the admi- 
nistration of every sacrament, an exposition be made in the 
vulgar tongue, so that the ignorant may understand their 
use and efficacy. 20. That according to the ancient canons, 
benefices may not be conferred by the vicar, but by the 
bishops themselves, within the term of six months, otherwise 
that the collation may devolve to the next superior, and 
by degrees to the pope. 21. That the mandates of provision, 
expectatives, regresses, resignations in confidence, and corn- 
men das, be revoked, and banished out of the Church, as con- 
trary to the decrees. 22. That the resignations in favour be 
wholly exterminated from the court of Rome, it being as it 
were an election of oneself, or a demanding of a successor — a 
thing prohibited by the eanons. 23. That simple priories, 
from which the cure of souls is taken away, contrary to the 
foundation, and assigned to a perpetual vicar with a small 
portion of tithes or of other revenue, be restored to their 
former state at the first vacancy. 24. That benefices, unto 
which no office of preaching, administering the sacraments, 
nor any other ecclesiastical charge is annexed, may have some 
spiritual cure imposed upon them by the bishop with the 
council of the chapter, or be united to the next parishes, 
because no benefice ought or can be without an office. 
25. That pensions be not imposed upon benefices, and those 
abolished which are imposed already, that the ecclesiastical 
revenues may be spent in maintaining the pastors and poor, 
and in other works of piety. 26. That ecclesiastical juris- 
diction throughout the whole diocese be restored to the 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



bishops, all exemptions being taken away, but of tlie chief 
governors of the orders and monasteries subject unto them, 
and those who make general chapters, to whom exemptions 
are granted by a lawful title, but yet with provision that 
they be not exempted from correction. 27. That the bishops 
may not use jurisdiction, and handle matters of great weight 
concerning the diocese, without the council of the chapter; 
and that the caDons may reside continually in the churches, 
be of good conversation, learned, and at the least twenty-five 
years of age, in regard that the laws not giving them the 
free disposition of their goods before that time, they ought 
not to be made councillors to bishops. 28. That the degrees 
of affinity, consanguinity, and spiritual kindred, be observed 
or reformed, and that it may not be lawful to dispute there- 
in, but with kings and princes, for the public good. 29. That 
in regard many troubles have risen by means of images, the 
synod would make provision that the people may be taught 
what they ought to believe concerning them, and that the 
abuses and superstitions, if any be used in the worship of 
them, be taken away, and that the same be done concerning 
indulgences, pilgrimages, relics of saints, and of companies 
or confraternities. 30. That the public and ancient penance 
in the Catholic Church for grievous and public offences be 
restored and brought into use, as also fastings and other 
exercises of sorrow, and public prayers to appease the 
wrath of God. 31. That excommunication be not decreed 
for every sort of offence in contumacy, but only in the 
greatest, and in which the offender doth persevere after 
admonition. 32. That to abbreviate or quite take away 
suits of law for benefices, by which the whole clergy is 
blemished, the distinctions of petitory or possessory, newly 
invented in those causes, may be taken away, nominations of 
universities abolished, and a commandment given to bishops 
to give benefices, not to those that seek them, but to those 
that avoid them and are worthy of them ; and their merit 
will be known if, after their degree received in the univer- 
sity, they shall have spent some time in preaching with the 
consent of the bishop and approbation of the people. 33. 
That there being a suit for a benefice, an economic may be 
created, and arbitrators elected by the litigants ; which, in 
case they refuse to do, that the bishop may nominate, and 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



401 



that these may determine the controversy within six months, 
and that no appeal may lie from them. 34. That the epis- 
copal synods may be held once a year at the least, and the 
provincial once in every three years, and the general, if there 
be no impediment, every tenth year. 

Although, as Pallavicino b confesses, these demands proved 
more moderate than had been expected, many points con- 
tained in them were looked upon as dangerous, especially 
those concerning changes in points of ritual. Another party 
looked upon them as desirable, rather than possible, or 
adapted to the existing state of affairs. The same author 
observes, that the main object with the legates was, to avoid 
any matters likely to restrain the power of the pontiff, or to 
lead to the " seditious question " of his prerogative in rela- 
tion to the council — in other words, to prevent the synod 
being anything else than a select assembly, a packed jury, zo 
try popery before its chief representative by way of magis- 
trate ! 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Arrival of Yisconti. Reception of the French Propositions at Rome. 

"We must refer our readers' attention to the progress of the 
debates at Trent, at the same time craving indulgence for 
a degree of obscurity, which is unfortunately inseparable from 
the arrangement of records embracing so many simultaneous 
points of interest. In fact, the history of the Council of 
Trent is almost the history of Europe during a certain period ; 
and the difficulty of blending the internal and external c 
histories, and the confusion which would arise from any 
attempt to mix up the debates of the synod with the a ffairs 
which, from day to day, were more or less influencing the 
value, if not the character, of those debates, compel us at 
times to treat of the proceedings of this assembly rather 
according to the immediate connection of the subject, than 
of strict chronological order. 

On the 1st of January Yisconti, bishop of Ventimiglia, 
arrived at Rome. On the 3rd the pontiff held a congrega- 
tion, and expressed his confidence in the conduct of the 

b Pallav. xix. 11, 5. 

c I am indebted to Dr. Waterworth for this useful distinction. 
2 D 



402 THE HISTORY OF THE 

legates, as well as his good-will towards the cardinal of Lor- 
raine. In a congregation held the following day, he created 
Ferdinanclo de Medici and Friderico Gonzaga cardinals, the 
latter chiefly out of compliment to his first legate. d But the 
business of the council gave him much anxiety; and he began 
to meditate a visit to Bologna, with the view of being nearer 
the seat of the assembly, and either completing or transferring 
it. But the cardinal of Mantua dissuaded him from this 
step, representing to him the scandal which would arise, if, 
even upon his arrival, the council could not reach a regular 
termination, but must be dissolved. Nor did the impo- 
sitions of reform made by the French give any more satis- 
faction to the pontiff, who declared that their aim was to 
take away the Datary, the Rota, the Signatures, and finally, 
the whole apostolic authority. But upon considering the 
instructions of Lorraine which accompanied them, he took 
a more favourable view of the question; and, to make some 
diversion of feeling in France, he ordered Ferrara to release 
the king from the tax of 40,000 crowns, without any condition, 
and at the same time speaking somewhat favourably of the 
proposed scheme of reform. He was, however, careful to 
insist upon the pontifical authority, and earnest in denouncing 
certain points which seemed to question it. At the same 
time he wrote to Trent, cautioning the legates to avoid dis- 
cussing the thirty-four propositions until they were obliged, 
and that they should then commence with those that were 
least prejudicial; such as those appertaining to manners and 
doctrine, deferring those relative to rites and benefices. 

About the end of January, the bishop of Five Churches 
went to Inspruck, f to meet the emperor. Fear was enter- 
tained, that his account of the proceedings of the synod 
would be unfavourable, especially as he had been persuaded 
of the existence of certain secret cabals, which were likely to 
have an unfair influence upon the measures of the councils 

d Cf. Courayer, v. ii. p. 460. 

e Cf. Ranke, p. 85, note. " Lettera del C le di Mantua, scritto al 
Papa Pio IV. H 15 G-en. 1563. Quando si havesse di disolvere questo 
concilio . . . per causa d' altri e non nostra ... mi piaceria piil che 
Y ra Beatitudine fusse restata a Roma." 

f I resume the narrative of Paleotto, p. 473, sqq. 

£ "PrsBsertim quod ei a malevolis quibusdam persuasum fuerat, pri- 
vates quosdam conventus a nonnullis seditiosis frequenter iniri, qui 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



403 



The legates did all in their power to disabuse Mm of this 
belief, and to send him away with a good opinion of their 
own vigilance and integrity. . They also, by way of counter- 
poise, 11 sent Comniendone to the emperor, not only for the 
sake of compliment, but in order to acquaint him with the 
state of proceedings, and that it was their intention to refer 
his demands to the synod, as had been repeatedly urged by 
his ambassadors, at the same time apologizing for the delay 
which had taken place in so doing.* 

Yisconti, meanwhile, had returned from !Rome, giving a 
glowing account of the reformation which the pontiff was 
effecting in the offices of the Roman court \ the ambassador 
of the duke of Savoy was likewise received, heard, and 
answered. 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Letters of Visconti. 

This seems to be the fitting place for some interesting 
extracts from the contemporary epistles of Visconti, which, 
like those of Vargas, give us no little insight into the inward 
policy which dictated so many otherwise unaccountable 
proceedings of the pope and his legates. The learned and 
painstaking author of the " Memoirs of the Council of 
Trent," who possesses a fuller collection of these letters than 
the oue published by M. Aymon, k gives the following impor- 
tant selections and remarks. 

" In a letter of the 7th of Jan., 1563, the legates begin with 
expressing their surprise to receive from the cardinal to whom 
their letters are directed, Borromeo, the advice to be more 
communicative on the affairs of the council with the car- 
dinal of Lorraine ; for that it had been reported from Trent 
that he complained of the legates as not only shunning all 
communication with him, but even guarding against him as 
an enemy. They did not wonder that there were gossips 
among them who would say such things, but that such things 
should be attended to. On the contrary, they say they had 

noctu domos complicum circuirent, ac schedula quadam ac sigillo singu- 
lorum nomina literis obsignata exciperent, quibus nihil approbandum, 
nisi quod ex eorcim esset sententia, conspirabant." 

h "E per dar qualche ripiego." — Sarpi, p. 642. 

1 Pallav. xx. 1. 2. k In two volumes, 12mo., Amst. 1719. 

2 d 2 



404 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



always felt the highest esteem for him, on account of 
his eminent goodness, religious and honourable aspect 
towards his holiness, and the Apostolic See ; and that in 
their letters they called him an angel of peace, and a man 
sent of God ; and they lament that he should be the subject 
of so much calumny. They would not therefore fail to con- 
tinue most cordially their course of confidence with him. 

" A curious circumstance is mentioned at the close of the 
letter, of a Genoese gentleman then at Trent, who had been 
in the Inquisition of Genoa, by means of whom it was hoped 
that many of his associates might be reduced to reconciliation 
with the Church. He seems to have been still under con- 
finement of some sort ; for the ordinary of the place, the 
archbishop, was present, and is spoken of as the judge. 

"A letter of the loth of Jan. describes the perilous state 
of the council at the time, and its demand upon all the 
elasticity and patience which can be imagined ; for the 
legates had to do with those who felt it impossible to belong 
to their party, and who were neither simple, ignorant, nor 
imprudent ; then with those who were, as they ought to be 
of their party, but were, each individual, obstinate in their 
own opinion, and disagreeing with each other, so that they 
equalled the concord and unity among the first, by the dis- 
cord and disunion among themselves, while each endea- 
voured to excel the other in demonstrations of devotedness to 
the Apostolic See, and the particular service of his holiness 
and the court. The mischief and disturbance which this 
would occasion, they say, may easily be conceived. They 
had received certain annotations from Rome, and a letter to 
be shown to Lorraine, with which he was little satisfied. 
With him they had consultations ; and a modification of the 
seventh canon was proposed. At an interview soon after, 
he appeared very conciliating, but intimated that the form 
would not be accepted either by the Spaniards or the French, 
nor by himself, if the Holy Spirit did not inspire him to the 
contrary — an expression which they found proceeded from a 
very ill will. The legates had two objects in view : the one 
was, to establish the power of the pope on surer foundations 
than was done even by the Florentine council ; the other, 
that if the French should be provoked to call for a free 
council, as they had heard with their own ears was intended ; 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



405 



a dissolution would follow, of which they could not be 
charged as being the authors. We see by this plainly 
enough, that suspension or dissolution was always in view 
with the pontifical party as a desirable object; but that party 
must not have the credit of being the cause. 

•■'The letter of the 18th contains a passage profitably 
descriptive of the scandal occasioned to the council from the 
differences discovered in it among Catholics, who ought to be 
all united against the heretics, and to lay aside what, instead 
of making against the heretics, makes for them, while thev 
detect our imperfections and controversies. But if by the 
secret judgment of God, concord is denied, and the session 
cannot be effected, and a dissolution and rupture become 
necessary, let us have an express declaration of the will of 
Ms holiness, &c. The letter, about the close, has the curious 
proposition of a daily pigeon carriage or post between Rome 
and Trent, that the legates by this means might mitigate 
the distress which every day brought with it. 1 "' 

CHAPTER- XXIY. 

Articles proposed respecting Matrimony. 

On the 5th of February, 1563, after a stupid dispute 
about precedence had been adjusted, some articles on mar- 
riage were laid before the fathers. Thev were eight in mini- 
ber, as follows : — 

1. That matrimony is not a sacrament instituted by God, 
but a human introduction in the Church, and that it hath 
no promise of grace. 

2. That the parents may make void secret marriages, and 
that those, which are so contracted, are not true marriages, 
yea. that it is expedient that hereafter they should be made 
void in the Church. 

3. That it is lawful, in case the wife be divorced for for- 
nication, to marry another in the lifetime of the former, 
and that it is an error to make a divorce for any cause but 
fornication. 

4. That it is lawful for Christians to have many wives, 

1 Mendham, p. 275, sq. A perusal of the whole chapter will well 
repay the reader's attention. 



406 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



and that the prohibition of marriage at certain times of the 
year, is a tyranny which proceeded from the superstition of 
the Gentiles. 

5. That matrimony ought to be preferred before chastity, 
and that God giveth more grace to those that are married 
than to others. 

6. That the priests of the West may lawfully contract 
matrimony, notwithstanding the vow of ecclesiastical law ; 
and that to say the contrary is to condemn matrimony ; and 
that all those who have not the gift of chastity, may marry. 

7. That the degrees of consanguinity and affinity men- 
tioned in the eighteenth of Leviticus, ought to be kept, and 
neither more or less. 

8. That inability to discharge the duties of matrimony, 
and ignorance in the contract of marriage, are the only 
causes to dissolve matrimony contracted, and that the causes 
of matrimony do belong to secular princes. 

In order that they might speak briefly respecting these 
articles, they were divided into four parts, according to the 
four ranks of divines, and two appointed for each. 

The discussion of these propositions, however, rather be- 
longs to the business of the next session, and wall therefore 
be deferred for the present. 

CHAPTEE XXY. 

Letters from the French King, 

On the 11th of February, the French ambassadors pre- 
sented a letter bearing date the 18th of January, 111 in which 
the king set forth, in glowing terms, his recent victory over 
the Huguenots, and his earnest zeal in defence of the Catholic 
Church. He then besought the assembled fathers to give 
their whole attention to a thorough reformation of manners, 
such as the necessities and expectations of Christendom now 
called for, and to the restoration of whatever losses the 
Church had sustained either by the ravages of wars or the 
evil condition of the times. Such a reformation, he added, 

m Some, however, believed that this letter was really written at a 
later period. See Pallav. xx. 2, 2. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



407 



was the only means of drawing back to the Church those 
who, out of pure levity, and without any sufficient cause, had 
fallen away. 

The ambassador De Ferrier then spoke at some length. 
He declared that, although God had snatched victory out of 
the hands of the enemy, they yet remained in full strength, 
and that the only safe refuge was to the help of the fathers. 
He reminded them that Moses, when fighting against the 
Amalekites, required the aid of Aaron and Hur to support 
his hands ; and that, although Charles lacked not competent 
forces, he still required the aid of the synod. To them, there- 
fore, as to the stone of support, the king had sent his petitions ; 
which, by means of his ambassadors, had been laid before the 
most illustrious legates, who had promised to propose them 
in the council. After urging the anxiety of the king to hear 
their decision upon the articles in question, he observed that 
they contained nothing peculiar to the interests of France, 
but belonging to the common benefit of the Church ; and 
that, if any one might think that important matters had 
been omitted, it had been done so intentionally, to the end 
that they might, step by step, proceed to questions of more 
serious import ; and that, unless the council at once showed 
its capability to deal with minor matters, the Catholics would 
lose their confidence in, and the heretics would openly scoff 
at, the whole assembly ; and it would be said, that the Tri- 
dentine fathers were wise men enough, but lacked the power 
to do anything, and that they had constructed excellent 
laws, but had been unwilling to touch them so much as with 
a finger. But if, in the demands put forth, it were thought 
that things were contained conformable to the writings of 
heretics, he held such an objection undeserving of an answer ; 
while, on the other hand, if they were charged with being 
immoderate, he could only say with Cicero, that it is absurd 
to desire mediocrity and measure in the best things, which 
are so much better in proportion as they are greater. He 
reminded them that the Holy Spirit doth denounce against 
such lukewarm lovers of mediocrity : " I will vomit thee 
forth; would that thou wert either warm or cold !" He 
bade the fathers reflect how little good had been done by 
the too moderate reformations at the Synod of Constance, 



408 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



and the one which followed it (which he would not name for 
fear of giving offence 11 ), as well as in those of Ferrara, Flo- 
rence, Lateran, and the first of Trent, denying that the 
Tridentine decrees hitherto passed had produced any fruits. 
He bade them consider how many kingdoms had meanwhile 
severed themselves from the Catholic faith ; that the safety 
of France was not alone concerned ; that the Italians and 
Spaniards measured their own danger by the troubles of 
their neighbours. After a farther exhortation to reform, he 
concluded by some compliments, which were too evidently 
at variance with the charges he had previously laid against 
the council, to be of much avail, or give much satisfaction.? 

However, a polite and laudatory answer was returned to 
the king's letter, and he was exhorted to follow the example 
of his ancestors, in holding up the authority of the Apostolic 
See, and maintaining the ancient faith and the precepts of 
the Church rather than following the advice of those, who 
.sought only to meet present occasion, and preserve an 
imaginary tranquillity. But, observes Father Paul, " the 
biting language of the ambassador pierced the minds of the 
papal party, especially when he said that the articles of 
reform were addressed principally to the synod — words 
which they held to be contrary to the decree, that the 
legates only should propose — a principal secret for the pre- 
servation of the pope's authority. But they were still more 
vexed at his saying that he had reserved the proposition of 
more important matters until another time ; when they in- 
ferred serious consequences, especially having always been in 
doubt whether they had as yet fully penetrated into the 
designs of the French party." Moreover, a report prevailed, 
that the draft of this speech, which was submitted to the 
legates, differed in some respects, affecting the pope's autho- 
rity, from the one which he had delivered. 

n Meaning the Synod of Basle. 

This sneer at the unity of the Tridentine assemblies deserves 
notice. 

p Compare the clever remarks of Pallavicino, xx. 2, 4. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



409 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Lorraine goes to Inspruch. Return of Commendone. 

On the following day, the cardinal of Lorraine set out to 
Inspruck, to visit the emperor and the king of the Romans, 
accompanied by nine prelates, and fonr divines of eminent 
learning. He had first obtained a promise from the legates, 
that the question of the marriage of priests shonld not be 
handled in his absence, fearing lest anything might be deter- 
mined or preconceived contrary to the commission he had 
received from the king, to obtain from the council a dispen- 
sation permitting the cardinal of Bourbon to marry. Car- 
dinal Altemps went to Rome at the same time, to take the 
post of general over the forces which the pontiff was raising 
to counteract the rumoured levies in Germany in favour of 
the Huguenot party. 1 

The account which Commendone gave of his mission to the 
emperor, r was far from cheering. While asserting that the 
piety of the emperor seemed still so abundant, that, were it 
divided among the ecclesiastical and lay princes of Germany, 
it would suffice to restore their provinces to the Catholic 
faith, he at the same time expressed great doubts as to his 
disposition and future conduct towards the synod and the 
Apostolic See ; alleging that the emperor seemed under an 
impression that both the council and the pontiff were de- 
faulters in their work, and wanting in the application of the 
reform which was so necessary • that it therefore became 
him, as the first-born son and advocate of the Church, to 
lay them under a restraint, and that he had intimated as 
much in his letters to his ambassadors. 8 He also stated, that 

Much important matter follows in Father Paul, touching the dis- 
putes on the subject of matrimony ; but I prefer leaving the whole 
subject until the next session, to which it immediately belongs. 
r Cf. ch. xxii. 

s Pallav. xx. 4, 3. For the rest, I follow Sarpi. The complaints of 
the inefficiency of the council are set forth with great power in the fol- 
lowing passage of Paleotto, p. 481 : — " Rediit interea episcopus Quinque- 
ecclesiensis a Csesare, narrans male synodum ab illius aula audire, 
quod nihil prseclari ab ea agatur, disputationibus omnia turbentur, et 
quisque affectibus propriis magis quam publico commodo studeat, 
licebat majestatem suam literis ad S mum I). N. hanc patrum cuncta- 
tionem mire damnasse, eique resarciendse id consilii proposuisse, ut 



410 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Delfino, the resident nuncio, had given great offence to the 
emperor, by hinting at the suspension or translation of the 
council ; that there was an ojDinion in the court that the 
king -was in comnmnication with the emperor on the affairs 
of the synod, which he had reason to believe, being assured 
that the Spanish prelates had sent letters to him, complain- 
ing of the proceedings of the Italians, and proposing many 
articles of reformation, 1 which they would scarcely have done 
had they not known the king's mind on the subject. 

He also said that, when the too great freedom of the 
Spanish prelates was noticed, the Count de Luna had re- 
marked, that nothing could be done, if they were to repre- 
sent that they spoke according to their consciences. He 
further alleged, that he had little doubt that the propositions 
of reform already mentioned would shortly be brought for- 
ward by the ambassadors, and that his majesty had caused 
his divines to consult thereupon, as well as upon other con- 
ciliar affairs; but that himself and Delfino had as yet failed 
in their endeavours to learn the particulars of the questions 
to be discussed. 

But, continues Father Paul, these came to light in a short 
time. For the Jesuit Casinios wrote to Lainez respecting 
the emperor's dissatisfaction with the council ; and Lainez 
having conferred with Simonetta, they sent one of the 
fathers, by whom it was discovered that the articles in 
agitation were as follows : — 

1. Whether a general council, lawfully assembled by the 
favour of princes, may change the order determined by the 
pope to be observed in handling the matters, and bring in a 
new manner. 

2. "Whether it be profitable for the Church that the 
council should handle matters, and determine them as it is 
directed by the pope or court of Home, so that it may not 
do otherwise. 

simul Tridenti congrediantur, atque in rem prsesentem veniant : id, si 
sanctitati suae placuerit, eum quoque quam primum hie adfuturum ; 
sed et Uteris ex omnibus fere provinciis hue prolatis significabatur, 
omnem synodi expectationem prorsns concidisse, postquam nihil non 
plenum contentionibus, indignationibus, atque prorogationibus huic 
quotidie ad eos deferebatur. " 

1 Cf. Visconti, Memoirs of the 18th of February, v. i. p. 39, which 
wonderfully confirms the accuracy of Father Paul's statements. 



COUNCIL OF TEENT. 



411 



3. "Whether, if the pope die in the time of the council, the 
fathers thereof ought to choose another. 

4. Whether, when matters are handled concerning the 
peace and tranquillity of the Christian commonwealth, the 
ambassadors of princes ought to have a deciding voice, how- 
soever they have it not concerning matters of faith. 

5. Whether princes may recall their orators and prelates 
from the council without imparting it to the legates. 

6. Whether the pope may dissolve or suspend the council 
without the participation of princes, and especially of the 
emperor. 

7. Whether it be fit that princes should interfere to cause 
more necessary and expedient matters to be handled in 
council. 

8. Whether the orators of princes may expound to the 
fathers in person those things which the princes commit 
unto them to be expounded. 

9. Whether a means may be found that the fathers sent 
by the pope and princes u may be free in giving their voices 
in council. 

10. Whether a means may be found that no fraud, vio- 
lence, nor extortion be used in delivering the opinions of the 
fathers. 

11. Whether anything may be handled, be it point of 
doctrine or reformation of the Church, before it be discussed 
by the learned. 

12. Whether it be seemly that the emperor should per- 
sonally assist in council. 

Such were these articles, as given by Pallavicino, with the 
exception of an alteration pointed out in the note on the 
ninth article. But Father Paul gives us five more, as fol- 
lows : — 

13. What the emperor's power is, the See of Rome being 
void, and the council open. 

u Courayer, v. ii. p. 494. " Pallavicin rapporte cet article un peu 
differemment. Car or y demande, si Von powcoit trouver moyen, que dans 
les suffrages qui se donnoient dans la concile, les pjeres fussent libres tant 
par rapport an pape que 'par rapport aux princes. Mais en rapportant 
cet article, ce cardinal calomnie Fra Paolo, en l'accusant de n'avoir fait 
mention que du pape, et non des princes. Car il parle de l'un et des 
autres de la meme maniere, et il n'a pas laisse' sur cela le moindre lieu a 
l'accusation." 



412 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



14. What course may be taken, that the pope and the 
court of Rome may not interfere in ordaining what is to 
be handled in council, that the liberty of the fathers may 
not be hindered. 

Id. "What remedy may be found if the Italian prelates do 
continue their obstinacy in not suffering matters to be re- 
solved. 

16. What remedy may be used to hinder the combining 
of the Italian prelates, when the pope's authority is in 
question. 

17. How the practices may be removed which hinder the 
determination of the point of residency. 

Pallavicino is profuse in declaiming against the genuine- 
ness of these articles ; but the contemporary testimony of 
Yisconti x renders his objections almost useless. There seems 
little doubt that they underwent many modifications/ and 
that these latter ones were suppressed, as being too offensive 
in their character. But although thought unfit to be the 
exponents of the opinions entertained, their existence at any 
time is sufficient to prove the fading credit of the council, 
and the dissatisfaction which its juggling and constant de- 
lays had inspired. 



The aforementioned articles gave no small alarm to the 
legates, and Seripando exhorted the pontiff to make all the 
resistance in his power, and to address a breve to the em- 
peror dictated in similar terms to the one sent by Paul III. 
to Charles, in the year 1544, directed against the diet of 
Spires. But the quiet and pious disposition of Ferdinand 
showed that their fear was little founded on reason, and 

x " Si a sparsa voce delli dieci sette articoli, che furono mandati d' 
Ispruch, e molti ne haimo gia havuto copia." — Lett, of 1st of March, 
p. 84. This last-mentioned fact is sufficient to prove the difficulty of 
imposition or mistake as to the original number of these articles. Again, 
in a previous letter of the 18th of February, p. 40, sq. he mentions 
sixteen ; clearly proving that changes had taken place. This has escaped 




Legate. 



the notice of Courayer. 



y Ch. iv. §§ 6-8. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



413 



Delfino laboured hard to free their minds from the suppo- 
sition. 

The cardinal of Lorraine, who had been engaged at Trent, 
now returned ; but he found the first legate in a state of 
severe ill health, arising parti}' from age, and partly from a 
cold taken in consequence of being out in a north wind with 
insufficient clothing. Hosius too was ill, but not incapable 
of business. To him, therefore, and his two colleagues, Lor- 
raine gave an account of his expedition, taking care to place 
his own share in the transaction in the best light. 2 He 
stated that, immediately on reaching Inspruck, the nuncio 
signified to him the change in the emperor's feelings with 
regard to the council, and besought him to act as became a 
cardinal in his position, and as his influence would enable 
him to act, to the great advantage both of the -common weal 
and of the pontiff. He replied, that he would never give 
the purple reason to complain of his deficiency, or of his 
gratitude to the pontiff ; that the emperor broke out into 
bitter reproaches touching the neglect and excuses with 
which his proposals for reform had been treated, which, even 
the legates confessed, contained many things fit to be laid 
before the council. He added, that the emperor declared that 
the pontiff was deceived, either by the Council of Trent, or 
by the other council he was holding at Rome, and that a 
mischievous ambiguity prevailed, to the great injury of the 
reform desired, in confounding abuses with the authority of 
the Apostolic See. 

CHAPTER XXTIII. 

Death of the Cardinal of Mantua and of Seri^xindo. 

On the second of March, the proceedings of the council 
received a shock from the death of the first legate. He ex- 
pired after a brief illness of seven days, and his loss was 
bitterly felt. Paleotto a passes a short but sincere eulogy 
upon his probity, humanity, and virtue. He had been an 
ornament to the council, and his influence with princes was 
unrivalled. To the last day but one of his life, though worn 
out in mind, he celebrated mass with the utmost piety. 



z Pallav. xx. 6, 4. 



a P. 4S1. 



414 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Before lie departed this life, lie received all the necessary 
sacraments, and made additions to the will he had already 
prepared, leaving funds to found a college of Jesuits (to 
which society he had always been warmly attached), in 
the city of Mantua, to which city his body was conveyed to 
receive the last honours. 

Upon his death, the imperial and French prelates strained 
every effort to procure the election of the cardinal of Lor- 
raine as first legate; but the pontiff was too well aware of 
his previous disposition in favour of the grant of the cup, and 
of other concessions unfavourable to the Apostolic See, b as 
well as suspicious of the French nation in general. He 
accordingly appointed the Cardinals Morone and Navagero 
as his legates, assigning the precedence to the former. 

It seems probable that, had the health of Seripando been 
less precarious, he would have taken the place of the deceased 
cardinal as first legate. But his health was declining rapidly, 
although his unfailing energy was sufficient to deceive the 
wishes of friends with hopes too soon to be frustrated. It is 
impossible not to feel respect for the memory of a man like 
Seripando. All that acuteness and vigour of intellect, 
steadfast and consistent enthusiasm in the cause of his 
master, and oftentimes a noble forgetfulness of self-interest, 
could achieve, was done, and done heartily and cheerfully by 
him. Throughout his last illness, his piety was conspicuous. 
A few days before his decease, when about to receive the 
holy eucharist, he discoursed respecting the sacraments, the 
Catholic faith, and his own previous life, in the presence of 
some prelates aud other friends, with a devotional piety and 
good sense that moved all present to tears. He declared that 
his faith in the Catholic religion had ever agreed with the 
dictates of the Eoman Church ; that he never had departed, 

b Pallav. xx. 7, 4. Dr. Waterworth, p. ccxv. well observes, that tlie 
promptness of this election resulted from the pontiff's desire to cut short 
the intrigues which would be attempted in favour of Lorraine. 

c In the interesting <e Elogia Yirorum Illustrium ex ordine Eremi- 
tarum" of Corn. Curtio, published at Antwerp, 1636, p. 109, is a por- 
trait of Seripando, of a most prepossessing character. The mixture of 
mild benignity and determinate firmness which it displays seems to tally 
well with what we read of the character of this great man. The cha- 
racter of both legates is tersely and neatly discussed by Botta, " Storia 
d' Italia," v. iii. p. 73. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



415 



still less now would think of departing, therefrom ; but had 
determined to die therein, as he had always lived. As to 
the most holy eucharist, he averred that he had never 
doubted, nor even been tempted to doubt, that the body of 
Christ is contained therein. He would fain rise from his 
bed, and receive the communion on his bended knees ; and 
when his friends dissuaded him from so doing, he replied, 
that tins last act must not be denied him, and so received 
the eucharist, kneeling with the utmost devotion. 

Finding himself at his last stage, he signified to the other 
legates, by means of his secretary, his earnest entreaties that 
they would preserve the affairs of the council with that care 
and faith which became them, remembering that the safety 
of the Christian commonwealth depended upon them, and 
that, if they only performed their part aright, the Almighty 
would take up their cause. He spoke with affectionate 
praise of his late colleague, and declared that, in a few months 
hence, when the mouths of the malignant and slanderous 
were silenced, his loss would be deplored by all good men. 
But his warmth was never so great as when he spoke of the 
heavenly glory, to which he now felt forewarned he was 
called by the boundless goodness of God, and he declared 
that he should have seemed to have learnt little in the 
seventy years he had spent in this life, and which he had 
devoted to profitable studies, if he now knew not how to end 
it equally well. d Nay, so great was his firmness in this 
belief, that he sometimes condemned the care of physicians, 
who nourish the disease, and protract the mortal life for a 
few days by human medicines, while they retard the true 
life, which is Christ. 

In his will, ample care was taken to prevent litigation, 
and to provide for such friends as had deserved his gratitude 
by their conduct during his life. He also ordered his body 
to be buried in the convent of Eremites, but not within the 1 

d " It is remarkable/' observes Mendham, "that in this account of 
the last hours of Seripando, no mention or allusion is made to extreme 
unction, to the image of a crucifix, to invocation of saint, angel, or even 
deified Virgin ; nor even to confession or absolution. The system of 
"Veron and Bossuet seems to have been present by anticipation to the 
mind of the auditor, and he, or his subject, had the prudence to pare 
down popery to something like true Christianity, and with purer notions 
than those of the modern dissemblers." 



416 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



church, but iii the cloisters or the cemetery, without any 
pomp, and with a simple mound of earth and bricks to mark 
the place of his last rest. 6 But a crowning act of bigotry 
was not wanting to attest his violent antipathy to the 
reformists. "Whatever heretical books he possessed for the 
use of the council, by permission of the pontiff, were ordered 
to be burned. 

Before his death, however, other disasters happened, which 
added not a little to the general discomfort. News came 
that the duke of Guise, so stanch a supporter of Catholicism, 
had been assassinated, and, as was reported, by a private 
soldier, with the view of ingratiating himself with Admiral 
Coligny, and chiefly at the instigation of the heresiarch 
Theodore Beza, who proclaimed that those concerned in the 
deed would by that means earn celestial glory . f This, as 
Father Paul observes,? produced a great change in the state 
of the council. The cardinal of Lorraine, in losing his 
brother also lost the motives which had stimulated his pre- 
vious zeal, and much of the comparative quiet which followed 
was doubtless due to the loss of so able and diligent a minis- 
ter of the emperor and the French queen. The death of the 
duke caused much anxiety both at Borne and at Trent, and 

e Paleotto, p. 483, sqq. Great as were the talents of Seripando, 
eloquence does not appear to have shone amongst their number. See 
the Biographie TTniverselle, vol. xlii. p. 75. 

f Giulio Poggiano delivered an oration on the occasion of the duke's 
assassination, on the 29th of March, 1563, in the pope's chapel, to a 
large audience of cardinals, &c. It is in the usual style, and speaks of 
Beza in the following manner : — " ' The assassin/ he says, 1 awed by the 
authority of the duke, repented and returned the hire of the crime, but,' 
adds the orator, \ quod gladiatoris natura non tulit, non persuasit 
pecunia, Bezse religio probavit : is autem est Beza, homo ignotissimus 
genere, sed venditione sacerdotii, vitseque t urpitudine, nunc etiam qui 
bestias vicit, feritate nobilis : qui condemnatus in Gallia nefariorum 
facinorum, unum habuit perfugium castra ista praeclara.' &c. Beally 
when our people are accused, we examine and justify them if we fairly 
can; if not, we condemn them in proportion to the offence; and if it be 
nefarious, give them up. But such gratuitous and rhodomontade slander 
as Poggiano's, and that of Romanists in general, is too contemptible for 
notice." — Mendham, p. 263, note. Father Paul agrees substantially 
with the account of Paleotto ; but Pallavicino makes no mention of the 
charge against Beza. 

s See letter of Santa Croce, in Courayer, p. 508. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



417 



the alarm was increased by the rumour of an anticipated 
reunion with the Huguenot party. 

Just about the same time, the safety of Trent was threat- 
ened by a dangerous affray between some of the servants of 
the Spanish, Italian, and French prelates, which was attended 
by some loss of life, and was with difficulty appeased by the 
exertions of the legates. In the midst of all these misfor- 
tunes the death of Seripando came like a final evidence of the 
divine judgment, and seemed to portend no prosperous issue 
to the affairs of the council. 11 Such were the difficulties 
which seemed to bid fair to put an end to the whole trans- 
action. As Ranke has well observed, " the discordant 
opinions only met and combated in Trent ; they had their 
source at Rome, and in the courts of the several sovereigns. 
If these dissensions were to be annulled, they must be dealt 
with at the fountain-head. Pius had once said, that the 
popedom could no longer subsist isolated from the sovereigns 
of Europe ; this then was the very moment to act upon the 
maxim. He had once thought of receiving the demands of 
the several courts, and fulfilling them without the inter- 
ference of a council ; but this would have been but a half- 
measure. The grand object was, to bring the council to a 
close in harmony with the greater power ; in no other way 
could it be done." 

In fact, the pontiff had a double game to play, — to make 
concessions which might satisfy princes, and to procure a, 
submission to the papacy which would render them unat- 
tended with danger to his own prerogative. Such, at least, 
was the only plan of conciliation consistent with the vitality 
of the popedom. The death of his legates left him greater 
freedom for making changes without undergoing the charge 
of inconsistency from his immediate ministers; and in Car- 
dinal Morone he was destined to find a man capable of 
terminating one of the most tedious and unsatisfactory synods, 
that had ever debated on the affairs of Christendom. 

h Paleotto, p. 4S3. 



2 E 



418 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

First Proceedings of Cardinal Morone. 

Although all public business was of necessity suspended 
"by the recent deaths of two of the legates, the harassing 
questions of the institution and residence of bishops were still 
agitated. But all intrigues touching the future elections 
were completely silenced by the fact that the new legates 
were not only chosen by the pontiff, but already on their 
way to Trent. Nay, so complete had been the management 
of Pius in this respect, that Morone was not only fully 
established in his legatine office, but was likewise recom- 
mended to betake himself to Inspruck forthwith, in order 
to commune confidentially with the emperor. 

On the 10th of April, Cardinal Morone made his entrance 
into Trent, accompanied by the wonted assembly of cardinals, 
prelates, and ambassadors. Two days after, the Count di 
Luna, who had come from Inspruck, arrived ; and, although 
certain questions of etiquette as to his place in the council 
had not yet been defined, matters seemed in a fair way 
towards accommodation. 1 The reception of the new legate 
was highly ceremonious and respectful; but his colleague, 
Navagero, preferred a quieter and less obtrusive entrance to 
the seat of his future actions. 

On the 13th of April, Cardinal Morone made his first 
speech in capacity of legate. He painted in strong terms 
the disturbed state of religion, the unsettled character of 
the times, and the advantages expected from the council 
as a means of reconciling opposed parties, and averting the 
impending ills. He next spoke in high terms of the persons 
assembled, and made honoiu*able mention of the deceased 
legates. He then stated that, on returning from his intended 
conference with the emperor, he trusted to take such 
measures as would tend to the salvation of the people, the 
honour of the Church, and the glory of Christ. He con- 
cluded by exhorting the fathers to observe that humility 
and freedom from discord, which could alone extricate them 
from present troubles, and reward them for the many 



i Paleotto, p. 488. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



419 



dangers, the long journeys, and the cares and losses they 
had undergone in the cause of the council. On the 1 6th, he 
set out for Inspruek, k unaccompanied by attendants, in order 
that he might discuss the affairs of the council with greater 
freedom. 1 

The session, in consequence of the change of legates, and 
other hinclerances, was again prorogued till the 3rd of June, 
Morone being prevented returning from Inspruck by an 
attack of the gout. 

CHAPTEE XXX. 

Conference of Morone and the Emperor. 

In lieu of the lengthy account given by PaUavicino, m I 
prefer presenting my readers with the masterly summary 
given by Ranke 11 of the proceedings of the first legate in the 
delicate task intrusted to him by the pontiff. The certainty 
of his authorities renders his account more trustworthy than 
any other. 

" Morone found the emperor soured, discontented, and 
offended, convinced that no serious intentions of reform were 
entertained at Rome, and determined, in the first place, to 
secure the freedom of the council. 

" Extraordinary address, and great diplomatic skill, as we 
should say in these days, were requisite on the legate's part, 
to propitiate the incensed monarch. 

" Ferdinand was angry that his propositions of reform 
had been put aside, and never made subjects of actual dis- 
cussion. The legate had the art to persuade him that it 
had, for reasons not altogether to be despised, been judged 
hazardous to discuss them in form ; but that the most impor- 
tant points they contained had, nevertheless, been considered, 
and even already adopted. The emperor further complained, 

k Just before his departure, Peter Soto, the Dominican theologian, 
who to the last had taken an active part in the debates of the session, 
died. Before his decease, he wrote a letter to the pontiff, containing 
some suggestions respecting the matters to be handled in the council. — 
Pallav. xx. 13, 1. 

1 Before, however, he set out, he had a sharp dispute with the Count 
di Luna on the subject of the clause, "the legates proposing." — 
Pallav. xx. 12. 

m xx. 13. n P. 86. 

2 e 2 



420 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



that the council was led by Rome, and that the legates were 
governed by instructions received thence. Morone rejoined, 
and the fact is undeniable, that the ambassadors of the sove- 
reigns were also guided by instructions from home, and were 
continually receiving fresh orders. 

" In fact, Morone, who had already long possessed the 
confidence of the house of Austria, got happily over this 
most delicate matter. He glossed over the unfavourable 
impressions the emperor had taken up, and then applied 
himself to effect a mutual agreement on those controverted 
points that had caused the greatest discord in Trent. It 
was not at all his intention to give way on essential matters, 
or to suffer the pope's authority to be in anywise weakened : 
< the great object was,' he himself says, ' to hit upon such 
conclusion, that the emperor might deem himself satisfied, 
without trenching too closely upon the authority of the 
pope or the legates.' 

" The first of these points was the exclusive right of 
initiating measures vested in the legates, — a right which it 
was constantly asserted militated against the freedom of the 
council. Morone remarked, that it was not for the interest 
of the sovereigns to concede the initiative to all prelates, — 
a fact of which he could have had no difficulty in convincing 
the emperor. It was easy to foresee that the bishops, once 
possessed of that privilege, would not be slow to propose 
resolutions running directly counter to the existing preten- 
sions and rights of the state. It was manifest what confu- 
sion would arise out of such a concession. Still there was a 
desire in some degree to meet the wishes of the sovereigns, 
and the device adopted to that end is worthy of notice. 
Morone promised to bring forward everything that the 
ambassadors should suggest to him with that intention, or 
on his failing to do so, to admit their right to propose the 
measures in person. This accommodation was significant of 
the spirit that gradually began to prevail in the convocation. 
The legates admitted an occasion on which they would forego 

Fu necessario trovare temperamento tale che paresse all' imperatore 
di essere in alcuno modo satisfatto, et insieme non si pregiudicasse alT 
autorita del papa ne de' legati, ma restasse il concilio nel suo possesso. 
— Relatione sommaria del CI. Morone sopra la legatione sua. Bibl. 
Altieri in Roma, vii. F. 3. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



421 



their exclusive right to the initiative, but this not so much 
in favour of the fathers assembled in council as of the ambas- 
sadors.? It followed thence that the sovereigns alone were 
accorded a share in those rights, which in other respects the 
pope reserved to himself. 

i A second point was the demand, that the committee 
which prepared the resolutions should be constituted accord- 
ing to the several nations. Morone remarked, that this had 
always been the practice, but that for the future, since the 
emperor desired it, it should be more strictly observed. 

" The third point was reform. Ferdinand conceded at 
large that the expression, ' reformation of the head,' and also 
the old question of the Sorbonne, whether councils were 
superior to the pope or not, should be avoided ; in return 
for which, Morone promised a real searching reform in all 
other particulars. The plan agreed on to that end included 
even the conclave." ^ 

" These main points being set at rest, all secondary ques- 
tions were easily arranged. The emperor desisted from 
many of his demands, and enjoined his ambassadors, above 
all things, to maintain a good understanding with the papal 
legates. Morone returned back over the Alps, having suc- 
cessfully accomplished his mission. 'As soon as the em- 
peror's favourable determination was known in Trent,' he 
says himself, ' and the concord between his ambassadors and 
the pope's was fully ascertained, the council began to assume 
a different aspect, and to become much easier to manage.'" 

p ff Suminarium eorum quae dicuntur acta inter Caesaream majestatem 
et illustrissimum Cardinalem Moronum," in the Acta of Torelhis ; likewise 
in Salig, Geschickte des Tridentinisclien Concilium, hi. A. 292, wherein this 
is expressed in the following manner : "Maj. S. tibi reservavit vel per 
medium dictorum legatoruni, vel si ipsi in hoc gravarentur, per se ipsum, 
vel per ministros suos, proponi curare." [His majesty reserved to himself 
the causing measures to be proposed through the medium of the said 
legates, or, if they objected to this, by himself or his servants.] I con- 
fess I should not readily have inferred from hence such a negotiation as 
Morone reports, although indeed it is implied in it. — Kanke. 

* Banke, pp. 84-5. 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Letters from Mary Queen of Scots. Disputes in the Synod. 

On the 28th of April, the second of the new legates, Na- 
vagero, arrived at Trent, having travelled privately, in order 
to avoid the usual disputes among the ambassadors about 
precedence. On the 10th of May, the proceedings were of a 
character somewhat interesting to ourselves. The cardinal 
of Lorraine presented letters from the unfortunate Mary 
Queen of Scots; in which, after lamenting the calamities of 
the times, she apologized for her inability to send ambassadors 
to the council, at the same time declaring herself a faithful 
daughter of the Catholic Church, and her unceasing devotion 
to the Roman See. This epistle was accompanied by another 
to the pontiff, and a third addressed to the cardinal of Lor- 
raine, her uncle. After the council had returned a suitable 
reply, the French cardinal added a speech containing many 
particulars touching the origin and birth of Mary, and the 
favourable demonstrations of the two pontiffs, Clement VII. 
and Paul III., decreeing to her, not only all the dignity be- 
longing to English princes, but the title of Defender of the 
Church. He added other matters respecting the condition 
of that kingdom, and the goodwill of the French king to- 
wards Catholicism and the synod. 1 Massarelli was deputed 
to answer in terms befitting a queen so stanch in her reli- 
gious principles and so harassed by circumstances. 3 

But a serious dispute arose on the 12th of May, when the 
deputies laid before the congregation a draft of the abuses, 
which had crept into the administration of the sacrament of 
Order, and it was at once perceived that the reformation, so 
much sought for by the ambassadors, was generally refused 
by them when it came to particular cases. But the cardinal 
of Lorraine, who seemed disposed to exhibit a reconstructive 
rather than a conservative principle in handling the matters 
of reform, expressed himself utterly dissatisfied with the 
system proposed, and advanced four chapters, drawn up by 
himself, as a more efficient remedy for existing abuses. He 
charged the fathers with having arrogated to themselves a 



r Paleotto, p. 493. 



s Pallav. xx. 16, 7. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



423 



power which did not belong to them, and with indefinite- 
ness in laying down the qualifications which rendered 
bishops worthy of promotion. He condemned the nomina- 
tions of princes and chapters, although confessing that such 
wise princes as Charles Y. and Philip could not often be 
found. As to the Queen of Scots, he thought it absurd that, if 
women are not suffered to have a voice in the Church, they 
should be permitted to choose bishops. He did not even 
spare his own king ; observing that, despite his long asso- 
ciation with him as an old adviser, conscience compelled him 
to feel dissatisfied with his conduct respecting the distribu- 
tion of bishoprics. With no small tact he expressed a vir- 
tuous indignation at having himself received such honours 
at the age of fourteen. t He disapproved of elections held by 
the people, and required that some form should be sought 
for approaching as nearly as possible to the Apostolic sys- 
tem. After proposing four canons of his own composition, he 
inveighed bitterly against the titular bishops, especially in 
those cases where there are two bishops and two patriarchs 
to one and the same city, as at Constantinople, and other 
places in Greece, and where, although one of them was 
schismatical, yet confirmation and orders conferred by him 
were held valid. He observed that the titular bishops, 
although binding themselves by oath to preach to the people 
intrusted to their charge, were guilty of lying unto the Holy 
Spirit, in that they had no such intention ; that they ought 
either to keep out of holy orders, or be sent to their own 
proper dioceses, even if those were subject to infidel masters; 
that it was the duty of bishops to be ready to endure mar- 
tyrdom for the sake of their flocks, as those who were near the 
times of our Redeemer had done, and that such sham bishops 
ought to be removed from the Church establishment. He 
attacked the system of committing bishoprics to cardinal- 
deacons, and held that the intrusting of churches, under the 

1 This was. comparatively speaking, moderate for those days. " Soon 
after he attained the seventh year of his age, Giovanni de Medici had 
received the tonsure, and was declared capable of ecclesiastical prefer- 
ment. At this early period his father had applied to Louis XI. to 
confer upon him some church living." — Eoscoe's Leo X. b. i. p. 8. Leo 
became a cardinal at the age of about thirteen years. Pallavicino seems 
to speak of the present transaction in a dissatisfied tone. 



424 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



title of commendam, to cardinal-priests, was little better. 
He also held that cardinals ought not to be created before 
the twenty-seventh year of their age, or, at all events, at the 
age prescribed for deacons. 

After he had pointed out some other abuses, the arch- 
bishop of Granada spoke in a manner favourable to the same 
views. While admitting the high authority of the Roman 
pontiff, he declared that the synod had as much right to dis- 
cuss matters respecting the election and duties of cardinals, 
as of bishops, observing that it was of no use to object, that 
the election of cardinals proceeded from the chief pontiff, as 
the same held good with regard to bishops. He attacked 
the use of titular bishops as unknown to the primitive 
church ; the reservations granted by the Apostolic See as 
equally destitute of sanction ; and urged the necessity of re- 
storing the bishops to the proper enjoyment of their own 
rights. 

On the following day the dispute was renewed by the 
bishop of Lanciano, who, in speaking respecting the third 
•canon on abuses, which prescribed that bishops should confer 
orders themselves, and not by means of others, said, that if 
bishops would do their duty, the Church would be reformed, 
since they would both reside, and feed their flocks ; but that 
now, on the contrary, the bishops of Germany openly derided 
their office. Then turning suddenly to the bishop of Five 
Churches, he exclaimed : " I ask you, most reverend lord, as 
the ambassador of the emperor, whence is the reason that 
the bishops of Germany, and especially the electors, do not 
come to the synod, either wilfully breaking or forgetful of 
the oath which they took at their election on this very 

subject If they are really hindered from coming, 

they ought to send their proctors, as has been done by the 
archbishop of Saltzburg, and by some other prelates." After 
he had spoken for some time, the bishop replied that the real 
cause of the absence of the German prelates was the fear 
that, if they were to leave their dioceses, their quarters 
would be seized upon by the heretics ; that it was of no use 
sending proctors, unless they were allowed the right of 
suffrage in the council, as in the time of Paul III. ; u privileges 



u The digression of Pallavicino, xx, 17, 8, is worth reading. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



425 



of which the proctor of the archbishop of Saltzburg had 
availed himself even under the reign of the present pontiff. 

In fact, during the life of. the present pontiff, Massarelli, 
the secretary, bearing in mind a privilege which had been 
granted, under more or less restriction, during the reign of 
Paul III., had admitted the proctors of two prelates to the 
right of suffrage. This displeased the legates so much, that 
they exhorted the pontiff to repeal that privilege by a new 
enactment. The pontiff, in reply, expressed his dissatisfaction 
at the cou duct of Massarelli, and said that a document had 
been ordered to be drawn up, denying any right of suffrage 
to the absent prelates, but that it was not yet completed. 
The breve was sent shortly after, but was not ostensibly 
published, although practically effectual. It was, in fact, a 
disagreeable document ; and although the pontiff was bent 
upon enforcing the commands it contained, it was thought 
advisable to keep the real nature of those commands as much 
in the back-ground as possible. The legates wrote back, 
stating that this universal jDrohibition was insufficient to 
invalidate the peculiar concession made by Paul III. to the 
German prelates. Hereupon the pontiff declared, that it was 
to be understood that even that privilege was abolished. 

Shnonetta, who was the only legate who had been present 
at the council on both these occasions, recollected that the 
bull of Paul III. had never been really in use ; that the 
instance of the archbishop of Saltzburg's proctor arose from 
a mistake, which the proctor himself had taken care to pre- 
vent recuiTing. He did not, however, wish, without necessity, 
to mention the two briefs in which the afore-mentioned 
pontiffs had not so much annulled privileges formerly granted, 
as distinctly forbidden the proctors any right to deliver their 
opinions, as this would have seemed invidious. De Ferriers, 
winking at the cardinal of Lorraine, as if about to speak on 
some subject on which they were mutually agreed, said, that 
many most excellent French prelates would have come to the 
council, had they not been hindered by the necessary care in 
preserving their churches from the insidious snares of heretics; 
and that they had therefore sent their proctors, men of learn- 
ing and integrity. He besought the legates to admit them 
to the right of suffrage. The legates, taught by the lesson 
already shown in the disputes regarding residence, that it 



426 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



was better to decline invidious questions, than to refute them, 
made no answer, hoping that the matter would die away of 
its owti accord. 

But on the following day, the bishop of Philadelphia, after 
condemning the attacks made on the titular bishops, said 
that the abuse vented upon them was not such as he should 
have expected in an assembly composed of such prelates, and 
under the guidance of such legates. He then urged the pro- 
priety of allowing the proctors a right of giving their votes, 
in which he was supported by the French ambassadors. 
In this difficulty the presidents of the council, thought best 
to write to the pontiff, as touching a matter which not only 
depended upon his own briefs, but might cause no small 
commotion, either by alienating the minds of the tramontane 
party, or by giving them an immoderate and dangerous 
power. 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

Return of Morone from Inspruclc. Prorogation of the Session. 

Matters seemed to have relapsed into their old state of 
confusion and discontent, when the first legate returned from 
Inspruck. The nature of his conversation with the emperor 
has been already detailed ; and it will be seen that much bad 
feeling, much taste for opposition, resulting from a want of 
confidence in the Tridentine assembly, had been softened 
down by the tact and diplomatic address of Morone. But, 
as Banke has well observed, " other circumstances contributed 
to this result." For instance, the quarrels about precedence 
between the Spanish and French ambassadors had tended to 
break asunder the firm link by which they had hitherto been 
united, and the conscientious doubts of many an upright 
prelate were thus set at rest by a childish squabble— the 
spirit of the council smothered under a panoply of politeness 
and petty spite. The power of Philip in Spain was, as the 
same author 11 remarks, "in a great measure founded on 
ecclesiastical interests, and these it was naturally his prime 
care to hold in his own hands. The Boman court was well 
aware of the fact; and the nuncios from Madrid often said 
that a quiet termination of the council was as desirable for 



x Ranke, p. 87. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



427 



the king as for the pope. The Spanish prelates at Trent had 
already raised their voices against the burdens imposed on 
church property — burdens which in Spain constituted an 
important part of the public revenues. The fact had caused 
the king much uneasiness, and he entreated the pope to for- 
bid such objectionable language. Under these circumstances, 
how could he have thought of securing his prelates a right 
to initiate any measure ? On the contrary, he rather sought 
to impose restrictions upon them. Pius complained of the 
constant opposition offered him by the Spanish prelates : the 
king promised to adopt means for checking their disobedience. 
In short, the pope and the king were clearly convinced that 
their interests were identical. Other negotiations too must 
have taken place. The pope threw himself wholly into the 
king's arms, while the latter solemnly promised- to aid the 
pope in every emergency with the whole strength of his 
kingdom s."y 

But, fair as these prospects seemed, and skilled as Morone 
was, not only in gaining interest, but in knowing how to 
avail himself of it as circumstances favourable for its employ- 
ment presented themselves, he at once found on his return, 
that the present moment was unpropitious for the realiza- 
tion of his plans, and that the dispute, which the bishop of 
Lanciano had originated, might end in a serious dissension, if 
not in the dissolution of the synod. The old remedy, how- 
ever, was at hand, and on the 1 9th of May the session was 
unanimously prorogued until the 15th of June. 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

Further Disputes. The Session again prorogued. 

While the prelates were yet discussing the question of the 
suffrage of proctors in the council, a serious confusion arose 
in consequence of the contest for dignity of place between 
the Spanish and the French ambassadors. 2 From the state- 

y But notwithstanding this coalition of forces, the meeting talked of 
between the pope and the emperor was abandoned. It had been sup- 
posed " that the council might be transferred to Bologna ; at all events, 
that the emperor might there receive the sacred crown from the hands 
of his holiness, a ceremony which, if once intermitted, might through 
the prevalence of heresy never be repeated." — Mendham, p. 266. 

2 I chiefly follow Mendham and Paleotto. It will be found more 



428 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ment of Paleotto, who was present at, and a party in the 
transaction, it appears that the Count di Lima had been tacitly 
allowed a seat in the conncil out of the usual order, which 
did not, however, prevent the French ambassador taking 
precedence of him in many public processions, and on other 
occasions ; hence the pontiff, better pleased with the putting 
down of heresy in the Spanish dominions, than with the dis- 
turbed and unsatisfactory state of France, in which there 
were rumours of an accommodation having been effected 
with the Huguenots, determined to pay equal honour to the 
Spanish ambassadors. The legates were thrown into great 
confusion by this request of his holiness. They at first hoped 
that the Count di Luna would abstain from attendance, 3, 
when the contest had come to issue ; but they were dis- 
appointed in their expectation. On the 29th of June mass 
was begun, and the Spanish ambassador was seated at the side 
of the legates, on a seat prepared in front of the seats of the 
patriarchs, and nearly opposite the other lay ambassadors. 
The French showed no symptoms of offence, as the count's 
place was out of the usual order, and they retained their 
own near that of the imperial ambassadors. But the mischief 
began when the cardinal of Lorraine asked what was to be 
done with the thurible and the pax. They muttered some- 
thing or other, and referred him to Morone. Morone advised 
that the German custom should be observed, and two thuri- 
bles presented. Lorraine answered with great bitterness, and 
the French ambassadors began to use indignant and threat- 
ening language. The legates, finding that matters could not be 
brought to a termination in quiet, proposed either that the 
thurible should be offered to neither of the ambassadors, or to 
the legates only, or to all alike. Neither the French nor the 
Spaniards would be satisfied; nay, the Spanish ambassador 
insisted on the legates acting according to the pontiff's direc- 
tions. The legates and others went into the sacristy to discuss 

copiously detailed in Pallav. xxi. 8, sqq. Paleotto's evidence is admir- 
ably corroborated by Visconti, Let. of the 1st of July, p. 138. For 
some previous history referring to this dispute, see Pallav. xxi. 1, and 
Sarpi, viii. 2, sqq. 

a Visconti : " Questa mattina ci era speranza ch' il conte di Luna si 
dovesse contentare, che Domenica non si dovesse andare in duomo, alia 
messa e processione, secondo il solito, havendo pensato li signori legati 
questo rimedio, per levare ogni occasione di disordine." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



429 



the matter. When the sermon was begun, Lorraine and the 
French ambassadors showed the legates the directions'of their 
king, declaring, that if any innovation was attempted in the 
matter, they would forthwith depart, and renounce their 
obedience to the pontiff. The imperial ambassadors in vain 
attempted to effect a reconciliation, and the archbishop of 
Granada expressed his fear that this scene might get noised 
abroad, to the great annoyance of his Catholic majesty. At 
length it was agreed that neither thurible nor pax should be 
offered to any one soever on this day. 

On the same day, however, the count went to the legates, 
and still adhered to his demand, that the thurible should be 
presented to him according to the prescript of his holiness, and 
declared that he feared not the fury and threats of the French, 
and that they had more reason to dread his own king. The 
legates, having tried every expedient in vain, were just going 
to yield to his request, when a conference took place between 
Simonetta and the auditor, which ended in the expedient of 
altogether omitting the thurible and pax even to the legates 
themselves, and even on the day of session. Although 
Paleotto ascribes this expedient of cutting the knot, which 
could not be disentangled, to the divine clemency, common 
sense finds a better source for it in the paltry vanity and 
ostentation of power of one party, and in the uncertainty 
and vacillation of the legates. 

The session had meanwhile been prorogued, as we shall 
hereafter see, for the last time, till the 15th of July. 

CHAPTER XXXIY. 

Further Discussions on the Right of Proctors to Suffrage, and arrival of 
Birague. Other Events. 

We must now retrograde to the latter part of the May 
previous, and take a brief view of the concluding discussions 
respecting the suffrages of proctors in the council, and the 
subsequent ones touching the abuses of order. 

After a tedious dispute about certain points of canon law 
bearing on the duty of proctors, the legates determined to 
follow the plan which they had submitted to the pontiff. 
They accordingly stated to the ambassadors, that it was for 



430 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



their sake that the proctors, and a few select theologians, 
had been admitted to hear the proceedings of the council, 
but not to speak therein ; that it was impossible to allow all 
the theologians to be present, as it would be unsafe for the 
proceedings of such a senate to be heard and seen by so 
mixed and large an assembly. The French and Spanish 
ambassadors, perceiving that no further concession would be 
made, and that, if made, it would not be agreeable to their 
own prelates, fell in with the wishes of the legates. But 
respecting the German prelates, especially those who were 
of princely rank, it was less easy to decide. Many of them 
were undoubtedly unable to be present ; and it seemed an 
invidious thing to debar them of the only means by which 
they could take a part in the proceedings of the council. 
The legates were inclined to strain a point in their favour ; 
but a limited indulgence was all that could be obtained from 
the pontiff ; and it seems doubtful, from Pallavicino's account, 
whether the malcontents really gained anything by the 
dispute. 

At the end of May, Renatus Birague, who had been sent 
by the king of France on an embassy to the emperor and 
the council, reached Trent, bringing an apology for the 
recent treaty with the Huguenots, and instructions to treat 
of the transfer of the synod to some city of Germany. But 
the legates, feeling suspicious on this head, begged for a copy 
of the document prepared to be delivered to the council, to 
enable them to provide an answer. As it turned out, how- 
ever, nothing was specified in the document respecting a 
translation, and Birague showed no disposition to enter upon 
the question with the emperor. In an oration delivered in 
the council on the 2nd of J une, he laboured to show that 
peace had been made with the Hugaenots only out of pure 
necessity; and that the only fruits of war had been perti- 
nacity on the part of heretics, destruction to religion, trouble 
to the Catholics, contempt of the throne, an immense waste 
of blood, and many injuries to Christ and his law ; but that 
it was hoped that peace would be the means of upraising the 
power and dignity of the throne ; that charity and the other 
social virtues would revive; and that, in place of hatred, 
rivalry, and obstinacy, truth and a knowledge of the true 
faith would gain ground ; that the king and queen wished 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



431 



to live and die in that faith, and in obedience to the Apostolic 
See; and that, with a view of farther spreading that faith, 
they craved for reform, that the Church might be purged of 
its corruptions, urging at the same time, that any delay only 
had the effect of blunting the remedy so much required ; and 
that the fathers were therefore entreated by his most Chris- 
tian majesty to bring the council to a termination in as 
honourable and as speedy a manner as possible. 

It was difficult to give a reply. In the words of Palla- 
vicino, " it was impossible to expose the ambassador, or the 
prince who sent him, and equally so to excuse a peace of so 
impious a character, and one which they well knew the 
Spaniards would oppose with words breathing fire itself." 
The legates, therefore, thought it better to avoid any direct 
reply ; and having consulted with the cardinal of Lorraine, 
Madrucci, and a few other prelates, they proposed to draw 
up a reply, to the effect that " the sacred and holy synod had 
received the contents of the letters of his most Christian 
majesty; but, as there was need of further consideration, a 
reply should be sent in due time." b 

The French ambassadors felt little satisfied, and the 
legates were compelled to draw up a more expressive reply. 
They made the best of what had happened, treating the 
peace with the Huguenots as a virtue of necessity, but 
blending firm admonition with compliment. A general 
draft having been shown to Lorraine and Madrucci sejDa- 
rately, and approved by both, it was brought before the 
assembly by Morone on the 7 th of June, and some discussion 
ensued. The cardinal of Lorraine tried to excuse the con- 
duct of the French in making peace with the Huguenots, 
and complained that, after the council had idled away 
eight months without passing a single decree, they should 
raise an outcry against the conduct of the king, who had 
not asked for their approbation of what he had done, but had 
merely sent them a narrative of his proceedings. In fact, 
his oration went far to charge the fathers with having 
brought upon themselves the mischief, of which they were 
now complaining. 

Madrucci, who spoke next, simply said that if the draft 

b My account is, in brief, that of Pallav. xxi. 3. 



432 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



of the reply met with the satisfaction of the majority, he 
also should be content with it. The patriarchs of Jerusalem 
and Venice, and several bishops, asked for a copy of the 
reply, and time to consider it. Another party wished for 
the articles of the peace, which raised bitter complaints 
among the French prelates, and others wanted a copy of the 
king's letter and the speech of his ambassador. So various 
were the opinions, that the deputy who supplied the place 
of Massarelli, then sick, in order to distinguish accurately 
the opinions of all, began with Lorraine, asking him for a 
clear statement of his thoughts on the subject. He replied, 
that the proposed reply did not please him. c At length the 
dispute was settled by the suggestion of the bishop of 
Aoustia, who advised that the drawing up of a reply should 
be left entirely to the legates, assisted by such advisers as 
they might think fit to employ. Accordingly, on the 
same day, a modified form of the reply was drawn up, 
and the harsher terms, in which the late peace with the 
Huguenots had been stigmatized, were omitted. Thus ended 
another dispute, in which bigotry was compelled to yield to 
the moderation which necessity rendered imperative. 

This anecdote is chiefly valuable as showing the yet uncer- 
tain state of foreign powers in relation to the Tridentine 
assembly, and the growing influence of the reformed parties. 
The power of the Huguenots must have reached an alarming 
extent, when a synod assembled for the purpose of condemn- 
ing the very words of heretics was forced, how reluctantly 
soever, to admit the compulsory character of their influence 
upon their most potent antagonists. But the power of the 
legates over the council — always the serious evil — was even 
more apparent on this occasion ; and the habit of making the 
legates, and through them the pontiff, the chief court of 
appeal on all occasions, if not the arbitrator, judge, and 
executive officer, shone forth in a manner, that only adds one 
link to the chain of proofs that the idea of a free council was 
never contemplated, or, at all events, never carried out, at 
the assembly of Trent. Nevertheless, on this occasion the 
legates displayed a moderation in their warding of the reply, 

c This inconsistency was noticed by Morone, but privately. See the 
accurate observations of Pallavicino, I. c. § 12. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



433 



which was as creditable to their good sense, as it was doubt- 
less due to the clear-sighted diplomacy of Morone, whose 
powers of accommodating himself to circumstances had 
already been amply shown in his management of the 
emperor. 

CHAPTER XXXY. 

Continued Discussions on the Abuse of Orders.* 

In the early part of the month of June, the subject of the 
abuses of orders had been resumed. It is almost unavailing 
to recount the disputes which ensued, especially if we reflect 
upon the dreary waste of dull repetition they present, and 
the small amount of really edifying matter. Many proposals 
were made, but few real resolutions come to, seeing that the 
former task is one belonging to private individuals, the 
latter rests with the decision of the majority. e 

While, as Pallavicino confesses, the legates were little 
troubled by the numerous proposals made by various indivi- 
duals, there were at the same time certain points on which 
the sentiments of the fathers were more equally divided, 
and which consequently caused greater anxiety. The perti- 
nacity of the French prelates in resisting any expressions 
calculated to admit the superiority of the pontiff over the 
council, supported as it was by the Spanish party, was met 
by the firm resolution of the Italian prelates to preserve the 
pontifical authority intact — a matter in which they had not 
only an ecclesiastical, but a national interest. The Spanish 
prelates felt jealous of the immense power of the cardinals, 
which was inaccessible to themselves; and believed that the 
abridgment of that obnoxious influence would be beneficial 
to the Church at large. In fact, they wished the cardinals 
to be limited to their own churches at Rome, and to the 
office of councillors to the pontiff. The French were more 
opposed to the pontiff, and to the assertion of the plenary 

d " According to Astolfo Servantio, in his Diario, these discussions 
lasted from April 13 to June 16, 1563. He has particularized each of 
the congregations and the speakers. There was little interruption 
during that period of more than two months." — Mendham, note on 
Paleotto, p. 505. 

i e Pallav. xxi. 4. This author does not seem to attach much value to 
these disputes, although, in this and the following chapters, he details 
, them at length. 

2 F 

I 



434 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



power of a general synod. As to the princes and their 
ministers, the same author well observes, that " more or less 
they wished to satisfy their own prelates, since they were 
less troubled at their influence than at the height of the 
pontifical power." In this they were confirmed by their 
detestation of the abuses of the court of Rome. 

Many were the attempts made to arrive at a more satis- 
factory limitation of the pontifical power, but in vain. This, 
the point really involving the whole freedom of the council, 
was a question that men might ask, and then feel astonished 
at their own boldness. But the policy of the legates was 
shown in their avoidance, as far as possible, of such topics as 
were likely to be the signal for disturbance ; and although, 
as we have seen, their efforts failed to prevent some even 
disgraceful outbreaks, it is to their influence that we must 
mainly attribute the preservation of the popedom from 
many awkward thrusts which zeal or sincerity might 
dictate. 

The draft of abuses was meanwhile being discussed in the 
same manner as previously, and few remarks worthy of notice 
occur, till we come to the speech of the bishop of Cava, who, 
in speaking of the scheme for the establishment of seminaries, 
observed : " I am now forced to repeat what I formerly said 
at the time of Paul III., and to which many now present can 
bear witness, viz., that in monasteries the first degrees and 
offices are given to those who spend their days in reading 
the works of Thomas Aquina, Scotus, Gregory of Rimini, 
and other doctors and schoolmen. But those who read the 
Scriptures are treated as inferiors and juniors ; a fact which 
prevents us wondering at their deficiency in sound know- 
ledge of the sacred letters. Let, then, this system be 
changed, so that the chief care in monasteries be bestowed 
upon the sacred letters, and then about the schoolmen. I 
would also wish that a summary of Christian doctrine might 
be drawn up, whereby every boy might be instructed. " f 

f Paleotto, p. 531. Mendham, p. 2/1, aptly calls this speech "an 
oasis in the whole desert." 



COUNCIL OP TRENT. 



435 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Proposal of Be Ferrier. Liberty given by the Pontiff. 

De Terrier, who had long been anxious to deserve well of 
the pontiff, in the hope of meeting with a corresponding 
reward,? suggested that the council should be dissolved at 
the end of the next session, and that each country should 
then convoke national synods, in which such reforms as 
seemed to be required by the peculiar circumstances of each 
should be carried into effect, but only after receiving the 
final sanction of the pontiff. The cardinal of Lorraine and 
two of the legates, with whom De Fender had communi- 
cated in the most cautious and secret manner, 11 approved of 
this scheme as likely to lead to the suppression of obnoxious 
questions, and relieve them from the odium of measures 
which seemed, as far as giving universal satisfaction was con- 
cerned, hopeless. 

Under this seeming prospect of ultimate success, it was 
proposed on the 15th of June, that the session should be 
postponed another month j and although the time was 
declared to be insufficient by the bishop of Segovia, the 
proposal met with universal approval, and, as has been stated, 
was destined to put a close to the vexatious and procras- 
tinated work of this session. 

The following day the legates received letters from Rome 
to the following effect : — 

" The latter chapters of emendation of manners sent by 
you, in which the select fathers have comprised the principal 
demands of the princes, although, as you say, they are not as 
yet thoroughly settled by you, were nevertheless pleasing to 
the pontiff, in that he thereby perceived that you were 
taking care to promote the progress of matters in all direc- 
tions. Wherefore the pontiff commends you, and wishes you 
all good things. As far as his own intentions are concerned, 
he declares, that since he has already oftentimes reposed 
these matters in your charge, he can only repeat the same 
remark on the present occasion, well knowing that, in what- 

e Pallav. xxi. 5, 1. 

11 Pallav. § 4. The whole chapter is entertaining from its neat details 
of these intrigues. 

2 f2 



436 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



ever shall be decreed by yourselves and the synod, the divine 
honour and the public good will be considered." After men- 
tioning one matter as a subject of warning respecting the 
question of abolishing coadjutories and regresses, Pius adds : 
" Yet this, as all other matters, the pontiff wishes to be 
reposed in yourselves and the fathers of the synod, and 
trusts that they may be able to satisfy themselves. At the 
same time he entreats you, by the mercy of God, to look 
upon this his expressed will, by which he commits all things 
to yourselves and to the synod, as permanent for ever; and 
that, in accordance with that sincerity which befits the high 
opinion formed by the pontiff of your judgment and probity, 
you will use your utmost expedition in prosecuting the 
business on hand." 1 

A similar liberty was conceded to the legates in regard to 
the questions of doctrine. But it would appear, from the 
somewhat clever statements of Pallavicino, that they were 
afraid to use the freedom thus avowedly granted them; and 
that, even when the majority of the difficulties respecting 
the draft of reformation had been got over, they still felt 
unwilling to act except under the direct instruction of the 
Apostolic See. The pontiff complained, that while they 
seemed to mistrust the sincerity of his intentions in granting 
that liberty, they not only made a point of again referring 
to him, but, by publishing the transaction, threw the weight 
of blame upon himself, as well as the trouble, at the same 
time observing, that the synod was not willing to repose 
matters in his care, otherwise he would gladly have taken 
upon himself the onus. We cannot, however, fail to per- 
ceive that any movement towards giving the synod real free- 
dom had been extorted from the pontiff by the continual 
and dangerous importunity of the French and Spanish pre- 
lates ; and that, however specious might be the show of con- 
fidence in the council, it was confidence in the council only 
as ruled by the legates. Nay, the very diffidence of the 
legates in all questions at all affecting the interests of the 
papacy was a sufficient guarantee of the safety of confiding 
in their management and policy. 

1 Pallav. xxi. 6, 1. This epistle was written through Cardinal 
Borromeo. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



437 



But as regarded the question of reform, the power of the 
cardinals was the main point at issue. The cardinal of Lor- 
raine had shown how urgently and unanimously some altera- 
tion was sought for by the emperor, and by the kings of 
France, Spain, and Portugal ; and the legates, acting with 
their usual policy, and dreading that too vehement a system 
of reform might be insisted upon, had proposed a scheme to 
the pontiff for approval, which they thought likely to meet 
most of the difficulties. A letter in cipher from Cardinal 
Borromeo to Morone now made known the will, or at all 
events the wishes of the pontiff on this subject. As regarded 
a proposal that no one should be created cardinal, who had a 
brother yet living in the enjoyment of that dignity, he de- 
clared that such a system must be embraced with caution, 
as it would be the cause of doing personal injury' to existing 
prelates, viz., the bishop of Parma and the cardinal Santa 
Fiore. k His letter, however, concluded with leaving the 
reformation of cardinals, as well as of other ecclesiastical 
functionaries, to the discretion of the council. 

Matters now seemed in a favourable train ; but the legates 
were doomed to encounter a further annoyance in the incon- 
sistent conduct of the cardinal of Lorraine. No sooner did 
they appear in a fair way to obtain the very reform which 
he had so earnestly advocated, than he declined to express 
an opinion on the subject, alleging that he had not yet come 
to a determination, and that he had doubts as to the expe- 
diency of imposing too severe restrictions upon the order of 
cardinals. 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 

Speech of Lainez. 

I now return to the discussions respecting the abuses of 
order, in order to notice the speech made by Lainez on the 
1 6th of June, the day after the last prorogation of the session. 
In giving his suffrage, says Father Paul, he bent all his 
forces to answer whatever had been said by others at 

k From the narrative of Pallavicino, it seems probable that this 
demand arose from a rumour respecting a forthcoming creation of car- 
dinals. He naturally observes, that much indignation would arise from 
the proposal to increase the number of those whom they wished to limit. 



138 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



variance with the doctrine of the Roman court, 1 with'as much 
earnestness as though his salvation had been at stake : — 

" In the matter of dispensations he was most copious, say- 
ing it was spoken without reason that there is no other 
power of dispensing but interpretation and declaration ; for 
so the authority of a good doctor would be greater than of a 
great prelate ; and that to say the pope cannot by dispensa- 
tion disoblige him who is obliged before God, is nothing but 
to teach men to prefer their own conscience before the 
authority of the Church ; which conscience, because it may 
be erroneous, as it is for the most part, to refer men to that 
is nothing but to cast every Christian into a bottomless pit 
of dangers ; that as it cannot be denied that Christ had 
power to dispense in every law, nor that the pope is his 
vicar, nor that there is the same tribunal and consistory of 
the principal and the vicegerent, so it must be confessed that 
the pope hath the same authority; that this is the privilege 
of the Church of Rome ; and that every one ought to take 
heed, in as much as it is heresy to take away the privileges of 
the Church; because it is nothing but to deny the authority 
which Christ hath given it. Then he spake of reforming the 
court ; and said that it is superior to all particular churches, 
yea, to many joined together ; and if it doth belong to the 
court of Rome to reform each church, which doth appertain 
to every bishop in council, and none of them can reform the 
Roman, because the scholar is not above his master, nor the 
servant above his lord, it followeth by necessary consequence 
that the council hath no authority to meddle in that busi- 
ness ; that many did call those things abuses, which, if they 
were examined and sounded to the bottom, would be found 
to be either necessary or profitable ; that some would make 
the See of Rome as it was in the time of the Apostles and 
of the primitive Church, without distinguishing the times, 
not knowing what belonged to those and what to these ; 
that it is a plain case that by the providence and goodness 

1 Paleotto, p. 572. "Cumque hie summi pontificis authoritatem 
vehementius extolleret." His account is followed, but at greater length, 
"by Pallav. xxi. 6, 9, sqq. These writers have both taken up a different 
portion of the speech from Father Paul, which accounts for their varia- 
tion both in matter and language. A diligent comparison of both will 
reward the reader. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



439 



of God the Church is made rich; and that nothing is more 
impertinent than to say that God has given riches, and not 
the use. For annats, he said that it is de jure divino, that 
tithes and first-fruits should he paid to the clergy, as the 
Jews did to the Levites; and as the Levites paid the tenths 
to the high-priest, so ought the ecclesiastical orders to the 
pope, the rents of benefices being the tithes, and the annats 
the tithes of the tithes." m 

Whatever Pallavicino 11 may say to the contrary, it seems 
most likely that the conservative tone of this speech would 
be, to no small extent, ascribed to the influence of the 
legates. The very nature of the confidence reposed in them 
by the pontiff rendered the assistance of so clever a cham- 
pion of the Roman court doubly valuable ; while at the same 
time the very influence which made Lainez a powerful adhe- 
rent to his own party, would excite no small jealousy in 
those who perceived that, whatever concessions Rome might 
feel disposed to make in favour of a fairer distribution of 
subordinate dignities and influence, she and her supporters 
were determined firmly to resist the slightest infraction of 
her own prerogative. It is a fault with Pallavicino, that the 
general probability of Father Paul's remarks, and his clear 
penetration into the petty motives of human nature, which 
lurk beneath the gauzy coverlet of every intrigue, too often 
escape his notice ; too often meet with nought but dogmatical 
contradiction ; while he gloats with eager and savage delight 
over some trivial peccadillo in the shape of a chronological 
inaccuracy ; or a variation in particulars little affecting the 
general view of the subject. The more we read the works 
of these two great rivals, the more we are impressed with 
the consciousness that, whilst the inaccuracy of Father Paul's 
details can scarcely be excused, even by considering the earlier 
age in which he wrote, and the greater difficulty of always 
obtaining documents at first hand, the far greater minuteness 
and the regular system, which distinguish the work of Car- 
dinal Pallavicino, are but an inadequate recompense to his 
want of broad views of history, his small perception of 
genuine motives, and his utter incapability of surveying any 



m P. 721. The remarks of Courayer, v. ii. p. 571, sqq. are somewhat 
useful. n x. c. §§ 16-19. 



440 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



subject save through the glamour of the Roman court. The 
more we read, the more we feel convinced that, while we 
must look to Pallavicino for details, it is in Father Paul that 
we must seek for the history, in its best and fullest sense, of 
the Council of Trent. 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Proceedings of Birague. Proposed Condemnation of -Queen Elizabeth. 

I now return, with Pallavicino, to the ambassador Birague. 
He had set out for Inspruck on the 1 3th of June, where, 
after excusing the late peace made with the Huguenots 
on the same grounds as he had advanced to the synod, he 
began to treat respecting the transfer of the council to Ger- 
many; although he was well aware of the opposition which the 
fathers and the pontiff, as well as King Philip, would offer 
to such a step. The reply of the emperor, as stated by the 
Count di Luna on his return from Inspruck, was to this 
effect : — He admitted the necessity of the obnoxious treaty ; 
but alleged, that, were the council transferred, he would be 
unable to afford it his protection against any attacks of the 
Lutherans. Again he alleged, that, even were the council to 
be held in the very heart of Germany, the Lutherans would 
never attend it, except under such terms as were consistent 
neither with decency nor piety. Lastly, if they were to 
change its place now that it had begun to go on rightly, 
they would lose all the advantage which the pious hoped to 
reap from ifc. 

Meanwhile the pontiff had written to his legates, recom- 
mending them, in open and distinct terms, to exj)ress their 
disapprobation of the propositions made by Birague ; but his 
letter did not arrive in time, and he felt satisfied with the 
one which they had already prepared. But his rage against 
the French was aggravated to a degree that made him wish 
that a "higher spiced" document had been drawn up. 

A matter of more immediate interest to ourselves was the 
wish expressed by the prelates of Louvain, that the queen 
of England should be declared by the synod a heretic and 
schismatic ; since by letters from the English Catholic bishops 



Pallav. xxi. 7, 3. 



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441 



(many of whom were detained in prison), they had received 
instructions to that effect, those prelates hoping that their 
complaints would be a farther incitement to Catholic princes 
to drive out the pest of Protestantism. " But," alleges the 
contemporary historian, " it was thought by his holiness and 
the emperor, that if such a declaration were promulgated 
against the queen, she would be provoked to fury, and to a 
further slaughter of the Catholic bishops."? 

I will not enter into a defence of the often arbitrary acts, 
which disgraced the reign of Elizabeth. I will merely re- 
peat the defence so frequently urged, namely, the perilous 
position of England in regard to foreign powers, the treachery 
and secret influence of the Roman court, and the difficulty 
of discerning between political and religious dissent, at a 
time when the whole kingdom was but doubtfully recovered 
from its degradation under Queen Mary. I am unwilling 
implicitly to advocate the broad assertion that political 
aggression always led to the deaths of Roman Catholics 
in England ; and I am even disposed, with a recent writer,*! 
to treat some such deaths as " murders " in the worst sense 
of the word. But if such deaths, by the very decision of a 
Roman Catholic, were " murders," what becomes of the Ro- 
man slaughterhouse — the Inquisition ? What can be said 
for the pomp, that adorned the morality of an auto da fe ? 
that dressed up "murder" in priestly garments ? or for the 
mild and benignant successor of St. Peter — the successor of 
him unto whom Christ once said, " Put up thy sword ; for all 
they that take the sword shall perish with the sword?" 

It has been well observed by Bishop Marsh, that, 
" although the religious liberty now enjoyed in this country 
originated with the state, the adoption of it by the Church 
has been a matter of choice, as well as a matter of necessity. 
It is congenial with the very principles of our religion, which 

p " His holiness/' however, observes Mendham (p. 268, ».), " was not 
entitled to much thanks for his forbearance, according to the repre- 
sentation of Milledoni, who writes : ' Havera sua santita dato ordine 
al concilio, che procedessero contro la reina d'Inghilterra, ma intendendo, 
che questo dispiaceria grandamente all' imperatore revoc5 tal ordine.'" 
— Cf. Pallav. xxi. 7, 5. 

i Dr. Waterworth, p. ccxviii. " But upon the representation of the 
Spanish ambassador, that any such act would entail the murder of the 
few remaining Catholic bishops in England, the purpose was abandoned."" 



442 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



claims not the privilege of exclusive salvation. And if (what 
can neither be denied nor be justified) four instances have 
occurred in the annals of our Church, in which religious dis- 
sent has been punished with death, they bear no proportion 
to the similar examples in the annals of the Church of 
Rome. They occurred at a period when we were not wholly 
disengaged from the spirit of intolerance which distinguishes 
the church from which we seceded, and ever must distin- 
guish a chinch which allows not the hope of salvation to 
other Christians. But though the Church of Rome has not 
changed, the Church of England has changed in its preten- 
sions to spiritual authority. We are no longer what we 
were before the writ was abolished de hceretico comburendo ; 
and it is unfair to argue from our former to our present 
state. Our ecclesiastical and our civil authorities go hand in 
hand ; and as the authority of our Church at present exists, 
it certainly claims no jurisdiction in controversies of faith 
over any other than its own members. And this jurisdic- 
tion it must claim, or it loses the power of self-preser- 
vation." 1 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Discussions immediately preceding the Twenty-third Session. 

I must now return to the more direct business of the 
council. At the advice of the legates, the select fathers 
resolved to omit the question of the election of bishops, as 
the opinions on that subject were so various, and also to 
avoid the intended condemnation of titular bishops, to re- 
commend the restoration of the offices of the minor orders, 3 

r Bishop Marsh, Yiew of the Churches of England and Eorne, 
Append, p. 296, sq. Of. Blunt, Reformation, p. 308. "And if at 
length Elizabeth's government proved that it bore not the sword in 
vain, but smote with somewhat of a ruthless hand, it was rather in self- 
defence against political agitators that it so acted, than in violation of 
the rights of conscience. For certainly the severity did not begin till 
after her subjects had been absolved from their allegiance by a pope's 
bull ; neither did it ever manifest itself against woman or child : a dis- 
tinction this, between the punishments of Elizabeth and the persecutions 
of Mary, sufficient in itself to point out that it was the disloyalty, and 
not the creed, of the parties that drew upon them the vengeance of the 
queen." 

s These are enumerated and described by Le Plat, v. vi. p. 134, sqq. 



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443 



and to pay every possible attention to the formation and 
regulation of ecclesiastical seminaries. This last chapter was 
considered of such importance, that many unhesitatingly 
declared that, if no other advantage were to be expected from 
this session, its fruits would still be ample, and that the 
design of establishing such seminaries was the sole means 
left for the restoration of the almost desperate state of Chris- 
tian morals. 

The difficulties of the seventh canon were at length set at 
rest by the archbishop of Otranto, who suggested that, instead 
of declaring bishops to be by institution of Christ, as the 
Spanish prelates demanded, the words by Divine ordination 
should be substituted, thus leaving undecided the question 
as to whether ordination was derived immediately from God, 
or through his vicar. The legates were so delighted with 
this solution of the difficulty, that they commended the 
author to the court of Rome in the highest terms of praise — 
a kindness of which, owing to the indirect doings of some 
anonymous correspondents of the same court, the bishop 
appears to have stood in need. 

Unwilling to encounter further delays, the legates on the 
7th of J uly assembled a special meeting of two cardinals and 
of thirty of the most eminent prelates of various nations. 
After a lengthy debate, the form respecting residence, which 
had been proposed by the cardinal of Lorraine, was rejected, 
and that recommended by Mantua adopted, with some slight 
modifications. At the same time the other decrees and 
canons respecting the sacrament of Order were arranged, and 
received approbation. 

On the 9th of June the result of these deliberations was 
laid before a general congregation ; when two hundred and 
twenty-seven votes were registered in favour of the two 
decrees, a few slight alterations being suggested, and left to 
be carried into effect by Paleotto and three others. The 
Spanish prelates, however, still pleaded for the introduction 
of the clause, by the institution of Christ, alleging that the 
words Divine ordination might be taken to imply nothing more 
than the ordinary providence of God respecting all things^ 

and Paleotto, p. 575. sqq. from whom the present account is chiefly 
taken. What follows is from Pallav. xxi. 11. 

* So great, however, was the comparative unity now, that Massarelli 



444 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



On the 10th, the decrees on the abuses of order were pro- 
ceeded with, and were completed by the 12 th, on which day 
the cardinal of Lorraine carried a measure declaring residence 
equally obligatory upon cardinals as upon other bishops — a 
measure which, says Pallavicino, got over two difficulties at 
once ; for, on the one hand, it prevented cardinals from think- 
ing hereafter that they were withdrawn from their necessary 
presence at Rome by the duty of residence on their bishopric ; 
and on the other, the same duty could not any longer be 
objected against them, as being incapable of taking cathedral 
churches. An attempt was also made to proportion the age 
of cardinals to that qualifying for the other orders respec- 
tively, but in vain. 

Just, however, as all seemed coming rapidly to a prosperous 
termination, a letter from the Count di Luna threw the 
legates into considerable alarm. He stated that his efforts to 
persuade the prelates of his own nation to waive the definition 
of the institution of bishops, had proved fruitless, and that 
it would therefore be better not to hold the expected session ; 
since, were it to proceed with the disapprobation of the united 
mass of the Spanish prelates, severe mischief might be the 
consequence. But the legates were naturally spurred on to 
action by the provoking nature of the demand, and resolved 
not to relax in their efforts to bring the council to a speedy 
close. Accordingly, on the 14th of July, they held the last 
general congregation, in order to complete the necessary 
arrangements fpr holding the session on the next day, as had 
been determined. It had been rumoured, that unless the 
obnoxious clause was inserted in the canon, the Spanish pre- 
lates would either make a public demand to that effect, or 
protest against its omission ; but the legates, trusting to the 
unanimous feeling of the rest, assembled cheerfully in 
session. Although, however, the malcontents were joined 
by six other prelates, not of Spain, they subsequently aban- 
doned their design. 

But the legates were not quite at ease even now, as they 
feared that the dissent of a nation of such magnitude, and of 

remarks, p. 1379, "Miraculo traditum est. Propter enim lmjusmodi 
rem tarn seriam, et de ordine et de residentia jam annus consumptus est 
totus, et eo magis, concilium que illud propterea in partes di visum et 
protractum, nihil fere frugi usque nunc per dictum tempus conclusit." 



COrXCIL OF TRENT. 



445 



so high a reputation for piety and learning, would detract 
much from the dignity of the council and its decrees: and 
Morone therefore did his utmost to persuade the Count di 
Luna to make every possible exertion to complete the 
harmony, which was likely, with this one exception, to attend 
on the assembly of the morrow. 

CHAPTER XL. 

The Twenty -third Session. 

On the loth of July. 15 63. was at length celebrated the 
long-delayed twenty-third session of the council, being the 
seventh under the reign of Pius IV. Mass was chanted by 
the bishop of Paris, and the sermon preached by the bishop 
of Aiifie. The office of Massarelli. who was ill, was filled by 
the bishop of Castellaneta. who read the bulls appointing the 
two new legates, the credentials of the ambassadors who had 
arrived since the last session, and letters addressed to the 
council by the kings of Spain and Poland, the duke of 
Savoy, and the queen of Scotland. The bishop of Paris 
then read the decrees and canons touching the sacrament of 
Order. 

When the decrees were recited, all expressed their appro- 
on by the simple "placet," with the exception of six, 
among whom were the bishops of Segovia and Guadix, who 
wished that the sixth and eighth canons might be more folly 
explained. The latter also expressed a wish for the addition 
of the representing clause. The bishop of Austuni agreed 
with them as to the further elucidation of the sixth canon, 
while the bishop of ZSTicastro thought that a similar addition 
was wanted in the fourth chapter of the doctrine, in the 
shape of a distinct declaration of the supreme authority of 
the pontiff. 

The decree respecting residence met with the approbation 
of all present, with the exception of eleven, who started 
various objections. Some thought that the wording of it 
left room for supposing that residence was declared to be of 
divine right. The bishop of Yiterbo thought that it was 
too severe against minor canons. He of Orenze replied, that 
the decree pleased him, as it appeared calculated to hinder 
cardinals taking bishoprics. The bishop of Guadix dis- 



446 THE HISTORY OF THE 

approved of a longer absence from a diocese than three 
months, and required that cardinals should not be created 
before the age of forty years. But the only prelate who 
opposed the decree was Campeggio, bishop of Feltri, who 
declared that the matters proposed therein seemed to him 
full of falsehood and contradiction ; that the right of the 
council had not been preserved, in that the judgment of the 
minor theologians had not been heard first ; and that he 
would do all in his power to resist, as he had before done ; at 
the same time professing himself willing to yield to reason, 
and to the explanation or opinion of the pontiff in favour of 
the decree. 

With the exception of some trivial discussions suggesting 
further additions or explanations, the rest of the decrees of 
reformation were passed unanimously, as was the decree in- 
dicting the next session to be held on the 1 6th of September, 
of which the sacrament of Matrimony and some other matters, 
as yet undefined, were to form the subject. It is to be 
observed that neither the pax nor the thurible was adminis- 
tered during the session, to avoid the controversies likely to 
arise from disputes about precedence. 1 * 

The numbers given by Servantio were simply four legates, 
two cardinals, twenty-nine ambassadors. x Yisconti, in a 
letter of the day of the session, says that two hundred and 
twenty voters were present, of whom two hundred and eight 
were bishops. 

CHAPTER XLI. 

Opposition of the Count di Lima. Conduct of the Legates. 

The delight of the legates at the satisfactory conclusion of 
the last session was damped by the conduct of the Count di 
Luna, who began to urge them again to invite the attendance 
of the Protestants at the council. Considering that scarcely 
any business — at least of such a sort as to involve many of 
the material points at issue, remained to be done, and that 

u Paleotto, p. 532. My authority throughout the description of the 
latter proceedings of this session is Pallavicino, except where other 
references are given. 

x Mendham, p. 273, note, observes : " This must be a mistake for 
nineteen, for that is the entire number of the ambassadors given in Le 
Plat, as attending during the last meeting of the council." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



447 



the Protestants could therefore have had scarcely the shadow 
of a motive for corning under any circumstances, we cannot 
be surprised that the legates regarded this as a mere attempt 
to gain delay. They replied that the invitation recommended 
would not only be utterly useless, but would expose the 
council to contempt, as well as cause a dangerous loss of 
time.^' 

The presidents of the council therefore resolved to proceed 
at once with the matters distinct from the sacraments ; such 
as indulgences, monastic vows, and other similar matters. 
Accordingly, they proposed that a select body of theologians, 
viz. two from each of the kings, 2 two from the pontiff, viz. 
Lainez and Salmeron, as well as two more from the leading 
moderators of monastic families, should draw up a state- 
ment both respecting doctrine and discipline, and -that canons 
should then be formed by certain of the fathers, and sub- 
mitted to the general assembly. But on the Count di Luna 
continuing his ojDposition, Morone wrote to the emperor, 
urging him earnestly to oppose the attempts of any, who, 
with a view to their own private welfare, should attempt to 
retard the progress of the council.* 

The resolution of the legates was confirmed by the opinion 
of the pontiff ; who also publicly expressed his satisfaction at 
the termination of the previous session, and announced to 
his cardinals (probably with a view of excusing his recent 
apparent dereliction ot their interests), his determination to 
leave all matters connected with the reformation of their body 
to their own discretion. Nevertheless, the count renewed 
his complaints, objecting to the means proposed for expediting 
the business of the council, by means of deputies, and making 
interest with the ambassadors of the Transalpine princes. 

• v Subsequent events seem to make it probable that the count was 
acting at the suggestion of his royal master. See Pallav. xxii. 1, 2. 

z I scarcely know whether Pallavicino includes the emperor among 
the kings he mentions ; but Mendham, p. 279, observes : " In the first 
letter of the 19th of July, the nuncio writes, that he was informed by 
the first president that he and his colleagues had deputed certain theo- 
logians to examine the subject of indulgences, invocation of saints, and 
purgatory ; and had assigned two for the pontiff, two for each of the 
three sovereigns — the emperor is remarkably omitted — and two generals 
of orders. "' 

a The letter will be found in Le Plat, v. vi. p. 161. 



448 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



In fact, it was obvious that there were still two parties at 
issue; the German and Spanish princes wishing to continue 
the council, while the pope and the French court wished it 
to be brought to as speedy a conclusion as possible. And the 
division among the Tridentine prelates was as easily observ- 
able, " some desiring that those matters should be exactly 
discussed, and the rather because very little or nothing was 
spoken of them by the schoolmen; and whereas for other 
things handled in the synod there were decisions either of 
other councils, or of popes, or an uniform consent of doc- 
tors, these were wholly obscure, and, in case they were not 
cleared up, it would be said that the council had failed in 
the most necessary things. Others said, that if there were 
so many difficulties and contentions in what was decided 
already, how much more might they fear, that in those things 
which are full of obscurity, where there is no sufficient light 
shown by the doctors, they might go on ad infinitum, because 
they had a large field, in regard of many abuses which had 
crept into them for matter of gain, and of the difficulty 
which would arise about the interpretation of the bull, 
especially of the words used in some, of penalty and guilt, 
and also of the manner of taking indulgences for the dead. 
Therefore in these, and the adoration of saints, the use only 
might be handled, and the residue omitted; and, as for 
purgatory, the opinion of the heretics should be condemned 
simply, otherwise there would be no end of the council, nor 
any resolution of this difficulty." b 

CHAPTER XLII. 

Discussion on Clandestine Marriages. Forty-two A rticles of Reform. 

The legates, who were anxious, if possible, to shorten 
the period fixed for the next session, on the 22nd of July 
laid before the assembly certain propositions or anathemas on 
the subject of marriage, not differing materially from the 
form in which they were afterwards published. In a letter 
of Yisconti, however, as early as the 19th, he mentions 
that as the sixth contradicted St. Ambrose, it was thought 

b Brent's Sarpi, p. 746. Compare the remarks of Visconti, quoted 
by Mendham. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



449 



advisable to convert the canon and its accompanying anathema 
into a simple decree. c In these, it was proposed to render 
all clandestine marriages void, and various points respecting 
the age of the parties contracting alliance, and the fitting 
number of witnesses to be present, were discussed. The 
French prelates were more particularly anxious on this 
subject, as also that marriages formed without parental con- 
sent should be put on the same footing, but that at a cer- 
tain age children should be free from such control. On the 
other side, it was doubted whether the Church possessed the 
right to annul such marriages ; and, moreover, whether it 
was advisable to venture upon so important an enactment. 

It will doubtless be remembered that, as early as February, 
1563, the subject of matrimony had been laid before the 
theologians for discussion, and it was with the results of 
their deliberations that the council now had to deal. But 
before we enter into the disputes which followed, we must 
first observe, that the question of reform was by no means 
left at rest. 

Agreeably to the wish of the pontiff, the legates laid 
before the cardinal of Lorraine and the ambassadors forty- 
two chapters of reformation, the importance of which was 
sufficient to remove from their minds the fixed impression that 
the work of the council would be comparatively inefficient. 
Of these, two points gave rise to most discussion, one being 
the subject of clandestine marriages — to which I have already 
alluded — the other, which was of a very awkward character, 
concerning the collation of benefices with cure of souls ; 
several bishops objecting to the custom, by which, if benefices 
fell vacant during certain months of the year, their patronage 
was reserved to the sovereign pontiff; whereas they them- 
selves had a better claim to the power of distributing them, 
as being best acquainted with the qualifications of the clergy 
of their own diocese. Pius clearly perceived how much 
influence would thus be lost to him, as well as that the 
fathers of the council, if the affair were mooted, would be 
certain to decree in their own favour. Being, however, 
unwilling to be a drawback to the progress of the council, 
he proposed three methods of meeting the proposed measure : 



e :>Iendham, p. 2S0. 



firstly, that all benefices with cure of souls should, in what- 
soever month they might become vacant, be left to the 
patronage of the bishops, but that the simple benefices* 1 
should appertain to the pontiff. Another was, that benefices, 
as Borromeo had often suggested, should only be given in 
■forma dignum, agreeably to the words of the Datary, i e. that 
the person about to receive the benefice should prove his 
fitness before his ordinary. If neither of these were ap- 
proved, a third proposal was made, that the pope should 
confer such benefices as fell vacant during his months, only 
on fit persons, and on persons chosen out of the diocese in 
which the benefice was, a list of which persons should be 
furnished him by the ordinary. 

CHAPTEK XLIII. 

Discontent of Lorraine and De Ferrier. 

But although the food thus offered had been greedily 
sought for, it did not seem to agree with those for whose 
palates it was designed. e When the chapters of reform 
were communicated to the ambassadors, neither Lorraine 
nor De Ferrier was satisfied. Both saw that their desire of 
concluding the council was set at nought ; and while Lor- 
raine felt that he could not consistently repudiate what he 
had so often demanded, he could not find fault with the 
whole of the restrictions, because one article bore upon him- 
self. On receiving the document, he languidly observed, 
that " there was still work for several years." But he was 
more plain with De Ferrier, who held the same opinions as 
himself, and complained that Morone was paying more re- 
gard to the desires of the Spanish prelates, than to the 
authority of the pontiff; that Navagero was the only one of 
the legates who really did his duty to his master ; that the 
French prelates could not be detained much longer from 
their churches ; and that, while Morone was canvassing the 
opinions of princes in all directions, all measures calculated to 
bring the council to a speedy termination were at a stand- 
still. 

The inconsistency of these men was almost amusing. The 



d /. e. benefices without cure of souls. 



e Pallav. xxii. 2, 1. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



451 



French party, who had ever been foremost in charging the 
pontiff with retarding reform in the Church, and in com- 
plaining that nothing was done without an appeal to Rome, 
now appeared on the opposite side, and thought that the 
pontiff was too careless of his own authority, that he trusted 
too much to his legates, and that the legates were too free 
in the use of the power given them, and too negligent of 
their masters prerogative^ As to the cardinal of Lorraine, 
although he ascribed this change of feeling to the fresh 
commands of his queen, he rather had a view to the glory 
which would accrue to himself from the presidency of a 
synod to be held in his own country. 

But the pontiff was too wise to convert a doubtful friend 
into a dangerous opponent. He directed Morone to treat with 
Lorraine as if with a fifth legate, and to confide in him in 
all matters of importance. The following letter sent to the 
legates well shows the anxiety of his holiness to secure so 
valuable a coadjutor. 

" Such is the delight of the pontiff at the pious deeds of 
the cardinal of Lorraine in the business of religion, that, 
being unable to express it better, he has directed me? to 
write to you, urging that you do nothing concerning the 
synod, of which he is not a partaker; that you communicate 
all matters to him, whether small or great, with full sincerity 
and confidence ; and act with him, in all respects, as if he 
were nothing more or less than one of the legates. And if 
anything else should occur to you, by which you may render 
him certain of the good-will which the pontiff entertains 
towards him, and of his earnest desire to reward his great 
works in every kind of duty, you may be certain, that you 
will be acting in a manner most agreeable to the pontiff, if 
you do it with every appearance of a sincere and heartfelt 
good- will." h 

f Pallav. § 2. s I. e. Borromeo. 

h An equally polite, but less complimentary letter, was also written 
to the legates respecting Cardinal Madrucci. A letter of Visconti, of 
the 22nd of July, " mentions certain honours offered to Lorraine, in 
order to induce him to concur in accelerating the council, and the reso- 
lution of the cardinal to go to Rome. That now important personage 
was ingratiating himself with Morone and the Roman see, by intimating 
to the president the hostility of a chapter of the decree of reform, and 
of the princes, to the authority of the pontiff, which authority he, not- 

2 g2 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER XLIY. 

id jni/OvJ 9/1 J nomw nr ,8i9jJ9i ad j 10 vqoo 6 gcnvi 9091 nO 

Farther Proceedings of the Count di Luna. f j 

About the same time, the pontiff sent to Morone a letter, 
in which he recommended conciliatory measures to be adopted 
with the Count di Luna, at the same time sending some let- 
ters in which that ambassador had attacked the conduct of the 
legates, and excused his own conduct. Meanwhile the count 
was ardently pressing a former demand, that two fathers of 
each nation should be appointed to draw up canons and col- 
lect the opinions of the fathers thereupon, while the legates 
urged the contrary example of almost all previous synods. 
They remarked, that, after the king had been so urgent that 
the three synods of Trent should be considered only as the 
continuous parts of one whole, it was incongruous for the 
royal ambassador to propose an innovation calculated at least 
to tacitly condemn the custom previously observed. They 
also remarked upon the great difficulty of such an arrange- 
ment in the case of Italy; which was not, like Spain or 
France, under the dominion of one prince, but of several, 
each of whom must receive his due share of honour in repre- 
sentations at the council. The count replied with some 
heat ; and some of his expressions alarmed the legates as to 
the part likely to be taken by Lorraine. At length, finding 
their opponent persist in his demand, and make use of 
language that was deficient at least in circumspection, they 
replied, that, sooner than consent to so injurious an innova- 
tion, they would break up the assembly, and depart. 1 

Navagero was ill at the time of this conference, and the 
count resolved to speak with him privately. He complained 
that he himself was suspected of causing the delay of the 
council, which he denied was the case, provided that expe- 
dition was accompanied with prudence. JSTavagero expressed 
his satisfaction at his contradiction of the measure respecting 
his hinderance of the council; and the conversation turned 
upon the heads of reformation regarding the secular princes, k 

vdthstanding, was determined to maintain to the utmost, as well as 
favour the expediting of the council." — Mendham, p. 281. 

1 Pallav. xxii. 3, 1. 

k These will be given hereafter. 



COUNCIL OF TKEXT. 



453 



INavagero insisting upon the necessity of correcting lay, as 
well as clerical, abuses. 

On receiving a copy of the. letters, in which the Count di 
Luna had inveighed against the legates, the subjects of his 
animadversions at first determined to take him sharply to 
task, and to avail themselves of the opportunity for so doing, 
which was presented by the conveyance to him of the pon- 
tiff 1 s reply. But finding that the pontiff himself had changed 
the tone of his letters to a milder form than that of the 
original draft, they resolved to sacrifice private wrath to the 
public welfare. Adopting, therefore, the same policy as with 
Lorraine, they declared that they shared in his own anxiety 
night and day ; that all that continued and numerous assem- 
blies and the most anflinching toil could effect was being 
done in order to bring matters to a satisfactory close. They 
complained of the bitter charges he laid against them, of 
perverting the opinions of others by indirect means, and of 
suppressing their real opinions. 

The count replied, that he should never himself have 
formed unfavourable ideas of the uprightness of the legates, 
but for the report that private meetings had been held by 
them, at which the number of Italian prelates far outweighed 
those of France and Spain. The legates defended themselves 
from this ugly charge, by referring to the like disproportion 
of the members of the whole council— an excuse, by the way. 
more true than politic in the admission — and by showing 
that, so far from excluding the prelates of other nations, they 
would have invited himself to their assemblies, had he been 
an ecclesiastic. The conference broke up with a better dis- 
position on both sides, the count promising that he would do 
< his best to promote expedition, and that he would encourage 
his prelates to approve of moderate measures. 

It is strange that, even when matters, with few exceptions, 
seemed favourable to the prosperous conclusion of the council, 
the pope should have, even for a moment, entertained an idea 
of suspending the synod ; but it must be remembered, that 
the conduct of the French party, headed by Lorraine and 
De Ferrier, and the still more doubtful behaviour of the 
Count di Luna, were sufficient causes for hesitation. More- 
over, any one who considers the importance of the points of 
reformation which were discussed and carried out in the two 



454 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



last sessions of this council, will be struck by an apparent 
hurry in the proceedings of those who had so long sat 
debating the affairs of Christendom, and had done so little, 
but who now appeared to be nerved with a different energy 
— animated by a spirit of contradiction, which opposition 
rendered imperative. Much as Pius TV. may have doubted 
at times, he was one of those characters, in whom doubt is 
but the precursor of decision. If he hesitated, it was bub 
for a brief period. He had enough of the adventurer, to 
strike a decisive blow when needed ; enough of the well- 
tempered statesman, to wait the occasion. But even the 
vigorous mind of Pius was beginning to feel the influ- 
ence of advancing years. The council had become irksome 
to him, and every instruction to his legates now abounded 
with exhortations to despatch. When they now commu- 
nicated with him on the subject of his hint at a suspension 
of the council, he utterly silenced the very supposition. He 
declared that he had no opinion to offer on the points of 
reformation communicated to him; but he wished to leave 
all matters to the judgment of themselves and the synod, 
bidding them consider the feelings of the majority. 

The Count di Luna, however, was evidently not satisfied 
with the explanation of the legates ; and he declared, that, if 
they collected those private assemblies hereafter, he himself 
would assemble all the prelates subject to the king, whether 
Spanish or Italian, and would forbid their visiting the 
assemblies of the legates. " But," observes Pallavicino, 
" terrible as this threat was, the small probability of its 
being put in execution considerably lowered the fears of 
the legates. For such a measure would have led to the 
dissolution of the synod, contrary to the express wish of his 
Catholic Majesty ; besides which, there would be an evident 
inconsistency between the complaint that so few Spaniards 
were at these assemblies, and a prohibition forbidding any 
of them attending at them. They therefore gave a quiet 
reply; and, although they really continued the assemblies, 
they transferred them from their own abodes to those of the 
prelates. 

But the declaration of the Venetian ambassadors was far 
more encouraging to the legates. They set forth the good- 
will of their republic towards Pius, and their desire to see 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



i matters brought to a conclusion in a manner consistent with 
; the common welfare, and with the dignity of the pontiff. 

CHAPTER XLY. 

Discussions respecting Marriage. 

For months past the subject of matrimony had occupied 
the attention of the minor theologians and the fathers, and 
almost immediately after the termination of the previous 

! session, the statement of opinions was commenced, and 
after fourteen days' labour, they were collected together on 
the last day of J uly. The question chiefly debated was the 
annulling of clandestine marriages \ but the result was, that 
one hundred and forty-four votes were given in favour of 
annulling them, or of disabling all persons from contracting 
marriages under such circumstances ; whilst the rest of the 
fathers, and among them the legates Hosius and Simonetta, 
were for abiding by the present practice of the Church. 
Morone remained neutral. But the new canon did not 

i please even those fathers, who supported its principles; and 
the deputies were ordered to draw up a fresh one, to be 
afterwards submitted to the test of public opinion. Follow- 
ing the example of Pallavicino, I shall notice some of the 
most memorable features of the discussions in the congre- 
gations tti this subject. 

The debates were at first confined to the decree of reforma- 
tion, which was to have been appended to the canons ; and 
as one of these canons anathematized those, who should deny 
the validity of clandestine marriages previously contracted, 
it was declared in the proposed decree, that all marriages that 
should thenceforth be solemnized, without the presence of 
at least three witnesses, or without the consent of the 
parties contracting, if the bridegroom had not attained his 
eighteenth, and the bride her sixteenth year, should be con- 
sidered null and void. To render the decree an easier 
matter, it had been proposed to exhibit it in the form of a 
correction of discipline, not as a point of doctrine ; since no 
dogma had hitherto been defined by the council in oppo- 
sition to any considerable minority ; whilst matters of refor- 
mation were always decided by the mere number of votes. 
It is unnecessary to allude to the modifications which this 



j 



45G 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



decree underwent, in consequence of various debates, as it 
was subsequently abandoned. 

On the 24th of July the prelates began to deliver their 
opinions in general congregation. The cardinal of Lorraine 
took the lead, commending the labours of the minor theolo- 
gians as having released them from considerable trouble, but 
at the same time advising that an additional canon should 
be framed in condemnation of Calvin's opinion, that the bond 
of marriage can be dissolved by difference of religion, or the 
affected and determinate absence of one of the parties, or of 
the parties disagreeing in their cohabitation. At first this 
proposal had only forty voters in its favour, but it was even- 
tually carried into execution. After copiously setting forth 
the advantages resulting from the institution of lawful mar- 
riages, and the mischiefs proceeding from those contracted 
in an improper manner ; and having dwelt upon the evils 
of clandestine marriages, he recommended that instead of 
parents (parentum) the word fathers (patrum) should be sub- 
stituted in the decree — an alteration which was warranted 
by the civil law, in the enactments passed by Christian 
princes. 

Madrucci was of a contrary opinion, and could not see 
why the Church, after the continued practice of so many 
ages, should adopt so new a course, and thought that all 
changes should be confined to the reformation of abuses. 

The patriarch of Venice embraced the same opinion, 
denying not only the expediency of the proposed alterations, 
but the power of the Church to make them. He argued 
that the nature of a sacrament, which is perfect in all its 
essentials, cannot be rendered void by the absence of the 
necessary rites ; as, for instance, if the priest confer it with- 
out the customary sacred vestments. For since the essence 
of matrimony consists in the mutual consent of the parties, 
and the other rites appertain merely to decorum, or proof, 
^the deficiency of those could not affect the validity of the 
contract. Again, it was still less justifiable to attempt to 
invalidate marriages contracted without the consent of pa- 
rents, as it would tend to deprive men of the natural liberty 
which belongs to the age of puberty. He concluded by ob- 
serving, that there were certain heretics who denied the 
validity of marriage under either of the aforementioned cir- 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



457 



cumstances, against whom canons and anathemas were being 
prepared; and that to pass such a measure as the one pro- 
posed, would be to give the assent to those whom they were 
about to condemn. 

Different was the opinion of the archbishop of Granada. 
He declared that the Church, by divine right, possessed the 
power of annulling marriages, which before were contracted 
and firm, such as were those between an infidel and a Chris- 
tian, and that it much the rather had that power in respect 
to marriages to be contracted. Among other examples, he 
instanced penance, remarking, that although it is a sacra- 
ment, the Church has declared that absolution is declared 
void by the Church, if it be administered by any other than 
the proper pastor of the recipient. As to its being an inno- 
vation, he considered that a small objection, when the cir- 
cumstances of the times warranted a change. 

Castagna, archbishop of Kossano, alleged that it was 
doubtful whether the Church possessed the power of making 
the change in question ; and that although the more general 
opinion of the theologians was in the affirmative, he thought 
it expedient for the council to avoid the matter altogether. 
As to the examples of other hinderances imposed by the 
Church, they did not, he considered, remove the doubt ; for, 
in the other instances, persons previously able were disabled 
from validly contracting ; but in the present one it was pro- 
posed to make certain things essential to a sacrament, which 
had not been previously considered necessary, and this, he 
held, was nothing less than to change the nature of the 
sacrament — a matter which would give opportunity to the 
heretics of destroying the sacraments, especially as, although 
the same reasons existed for the change, no such attempt had 
been made in former ages. He was answered by Fuscario, 
who said that the authority of so many and so eminent pre- 
lates, as composed the synod, was sufficient to prove that the 
Church possessed the power. His arguments were sophistical, 
but not convincing. 

Antonio Cerronio, bishop of Almeria, was for declaring 
clandestine marriages void, arguing, that if the Church pos- 
sesses the power of rendering two persons unfit to contract 
marriage under any circumstances (as is the case in certain 
impediments of the ecclesiastical law), it must possess a far 



458 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



greater power so to do under particular reasons. He alleged 
that by this decree marriages would not be rendered null 
after they were sacraments ; but that obstacles would be 
thrown in the way, calculated to prevent their being true and 
proper marriages, and thereby they would not be sacraments 
at all. He disapproved of the priest forming one of the 
witnesses, and thought that the words " witnesses worthy of 
credit " might render many marriages of doubtful genuine- 
ness, and ought therefore to be omitted. 

Martin Kythovius, bishop of Ypres, dwelt much upon the 
doubtful right of the Church to interfere in the matter, and 
discouraged the fathers from attempting any such measure. 
He was followed by the bishop of Oviedo, and many others; 
but as their speeches are little else than a repetition of one 
or other of the above arguments, there will be little advan- 
tage in detailing them. The disputes lasted to the 13th of 
August. 

A canon had also been prepared anathematizing any one 
who held that marriage once consummated is rendered void 
by adultery. But on the 11th of August, the Yenetian 
ambassadors, after respectful protestations of fidelity to the 
Apostolic See, and obedience to its decree, remonstrated on 
the proposed canon, alleging that, unless it were altered, 
much scandal would be produced in several of the islands 
dependant on their state; such as Candia, Cyprus, Corfu, 
Zante, and Cephalonia, in which it had been customary not 
only to allow divorce in cases of adultery, but also to allow 
the parties to marry again. They also urged, that, although 
the Greek Church dissented from them in some respects, 
there was no reason to despair of its ultimately returning to 
the communion of the Apostolic See, and that the canon 
should therefore be modified. It was therefore changed into 
the one as it now stands, anathematizing those who allege 
that the Church has erred in teaching that marriage is not 
dissolved by adultery, 1 but not condemning those who hold 

1 Cf. Canon 7, Sess. xxiv. " This doctrine of the indissolubleness of 
marriage, even for adultery, was never settled in any council before 
that of Trent. The canonists and schoolmen had, indeed, generally 
gone into that opinion, but not only Erasmus, but both Cajetan and 
Catharinus declared themselves for the lawfulness of it ; Cajetan indeed 
used a salvo, in case the Church had otherwise denned, which did not 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



459 



that it is rendered void by that crime. This was not, how- 
ever, passed without considerable opposition, especially by 
Andrea Cuesta, bishop of Leon. 

CHAPTER XLYI. 

The Archbishop of Toledo liberated from Censure. 

In a letter of Yisconti of the 29 th of July, we meet with 
ample corroboration of the following statement of Father 
Paul. The deputies for the formation of the Index Expur- 
gatorius had given the work of Bartholomeo Caranza, arch- 
bishop of Toledo, 111 to some divines to be examined, and they 
having declared that nothing worthy of censure was contained 
therein, the congregation publicly stated their approval of it. 
But since the book and its author were under the ban of the 
Inquisition, the Secretary Castellane complained to the Count 
di Luna, who in turn applied to the fathers of that congre- 
gation, calling upon them to retract. They were, however, 
unwilling to swerve from what they believed to be a just 
decision; and the bishop of Lerida, either influenced by the 
count, or from some other reason, began to attack the book 
in question, bringing forward certain passages, which, by a 
misplaced ingenuity of misconstruction, were made apparently 
deserving of censure, and went to condemn the judgment and 
conscience of the fathers who had approved them. The 
archbishop of Prague, as chief of that congregation, defended 
himself and his colleagues, and called upon the legates to 
interfere, declaring that he would not assist in any public 
transaction, until his congregation had received satisfaction. 
Morone made peace, upon condition that no other copy of the 
faith made in favour of the book should be taken, and that 
Lerida should apologize, especially to the archbishop of 
Prague. The Count di Luna, by means of persuasion, got 
the copy of the faith out of the hand of Toledo's agent, and 
the quarrel was appeased. 

then appear to him. So that this is a doctrine very lately settled in 
the Church of Rome." — Burnet, p. 289. 

m This prelate was present at the death of Charles V. 



460 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



II WO "116 ft 



r/ors goonhq -lh[uo3% er£d lo dreq orit no 
CHAPTER XLVII. 

Further Delays. 



The pontiff, anxious to secure the cardinal of Lorraine to 
his interests, sent Luclovico Antinoro to Trent, chiefly with 
the view of preventing the cardinal's departure, unless the 
synod were brought to a conclusion, and to declare to the 
legates his anxiety for that consummation. While exhorting 
them to pay all possible attention to Lorraine, he declared 
that the Count di Luna was of less importance, as he well 
knew that the intentions of King Philip were different from 
what he represented. i)6ll6bo 019*1 

The legates replied by pointing out the dangerous influence 
possesed by the count over so many prelates and ambassadors, 
especially of the imperial party, and also urged the im- 
propriety and danger of sinning by excess, as well as by 
deficiency, of attention to the cardinal. They furthermore 
denied the safety of hinting at the cardinal's remaining at 
Trent after the session was over. 11 seealui^midi lo 

The letters from the emperor of Germany proved anything 
but satisfactory, and seemed well calculated to divert the 
ambitious mind of Lorraine to a course more conducive to 
his own aggrandizement. The articles on reformation had 
meanwhile undergone various changes ; and partly from the 
pressure of time, partly from the dissatisfaction which some of 
them excited, they had been considerably reduced in number. 
The last chapter, in particular, respecting the impediments 
of seculars, gave great offence to the emperor, who alleged 
that it contained many things calculated to disturb the Ger- 
man states, and that, being then engaged in the diet of Vienna, 
he wished for time to deliberate. The legates at length 
consented to defer that and another chapter on the right of 
patronage for a few days. Sharp disputes ensued, and some 
accused the pontiff and his court of having purposely in- 
troduced an article, which must evidently displease the 
princes, and thereby lead to the whole question of reform 
being quashed. Another party thought that this opposition 

n Pallav. xxii. 5. I am compelled to touch upon these matters Very 
briefly, as the volume is rapidly expanding. 



° Cf. Pallav. §10. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



461 



on the part of the secular princes showed that they were 
desirous of reform only as far as it did not concern their own 
interests. At length, finding, that the appointed time for the 
session was rapidly approaching, the number of articles was 
reduced to twenty, and it was determined to delay the con- 
sideration of the abuses caused by the interference of secular 
princes till the next session.P 

Private meetings were held respecting the twenty articles 
in the houses of the cardinal of Lorraine, the archbishop of 
Tarento,^ and the bishop of Parma, in order to bring them 
to such a state as to be passed speedily when laid before the 
congregation. The canons and decrees of doctrine were also 
remodelled. 

When they were brought before the fathers in their 
amended form, the Count di Luna complained, but in 
moderate terms, that these articles, in their present state, 
had not been shown to him first, and that he had not been 
asked whether he had any proposal to make on the part of 
his own king. The legates excused themselves on the ground 
of forgetfulness, arising from fatigue and anxiety, and the 
count succeeded in obtaining an additional article, about 
which the king had been very anxious, referring all causes, 
in the first instance, to the ordinary, of what dignity soever 
he might happen to be. 

CHAPTER XLVIII. 

Renewed Discussions on Marriage. 

On the 7th of September a general congregation was held, 
and the discussions on marriage commenced anew. The 
cardinal of Lorraine started an objection against the third 
canon, which affirmed that the Church has the power to 
prescribe not only the same impediments which are contained 
in Leviticus, but neither more nor less. He recommended the 

p With Dr. Waterworth, I have been forced to omit much interesting 
matter relative to the intrigues which tended to delay the session, as 
well as the remarks made upon different points of the previously pro- 
posed scheme of reform. It may be observed, -that a vain attempt to 
establish the Inquisition in Milan was made about this time. Cf. Sarpi, 
p. 757, sqq. ; Courayer, v. ii. p. 638. 

i Sarpi adds the archbishop of Otranto. Cf. Courayer, p. 641 ; and 
Mendham, p. 288, note. 



462 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



omission of the words " or less," and the canon was altered 
accordingly. After some discussion, the alteration in the 
seventh canon, proposed by the Venetian ambassadors, was 
also agreed to. 

But the chief matter of dispute was clandestine marriage ; 
and with the view of facilitating the determination thereupon, 
another form was proposed of a milder character, making two 
witnesses sufficient ; but this being thought unsafe, it was 
thought proper to require the presence of a notary, or of the 
parish priest, and ultimately it was determined to make the 
latter a necessary witness to the marriage contract. The 
Trench bishops, who had all along been remarkably anxious 
about the matter, wished it to be declared, not only that the 
presence of the priest was necessary to, but likewise that he 
presided 11 at, the marriage ; but this was rejected, it being 
thought that all that was signified by the presence of the 
priest was a valid and undeniable proof of the marriage. 
Pallavicino remarks, that the refusal of this proposition 
evinces not only the desire on the part of the council to 
throw no unfair restraints upon the parties contracting, but 
likewise their wish to check too great assumption on the part 
of the clergy. 

But the discussions on this matter were conducted with 
considerable warmth. Three patriarchs and the archbishop 
of Otranto opposed it, and two of them wished the matter 
to be referred to the pontiff, while another exclaimed, that it 
wanted a yet more powerful assailant ; that it was against 
the divine law, and that he would resist it even to the shed- 
ding of his own blood. 

On the other side, the archbishop of Granada expressed 
his surprise that any should maintain that the question 
ought either to be let slip, or be remitted to the pontiff ; 
for where, he continued, could a difficulty be better discussed 
and disentangled, than in an oecumenical synod, which was 
assembled not to consider things evident, but things doubt- 
ful, and which was under the guidance of the Holy Spirit ? 
Could any like assembly of theologians and jurisconsults be 
found elsewhere, with whom the pontiff could deliberate ? 
In fine, the question was one of such importance, as to have 



r "Prsefuerit." 



8 § 17. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



463 



deservedly required a council to be called for its settlement, 
not one that the council had a right to shift to another 
jurisdiction. He approved of rendering such contracts void, 
alleging that the Church had the power so to do, and that 
none of the ancient schoolmen or canonists had any doubt 
on the subject. He went on to say, that the objections on 
the score of the freedom of matrimony being hereby im- 
paired, or those founded on the sacramental nature of 
marriage, were irrelevant ; and that, so far from this decree 
inclining to the doctrines of Calvin, it actually condemned 
two of his errors, the one stating that clandestine marriages 
are void by the law of nature, the other, that the Church 
has not the power to sanction new impediments. 

The bishop of Segova wished that those who denied the 
Church the power in question might be compelled to state 
their reasons in writing, to the end that they might the 
better be confuted. He thought it unsafe for such an 
opinion to get abroad, and for a decree so useful to the 
Christian commonwealth to be hindered. As to committing 
it to the pontiff, he held that it would not be doing him 
honour, but offering an offence, as though he were a judge 
set apart from the council, when, on the contrary, the 
council derived its whole authority from its convocation by 
the pontiff, and from his assisting therein by means of his 
legates ; and that therefore to remit such a matter to the 
pontiff would be to remove the weight from the pontiff, 
supported by the councils of the whole Church, to the pon- 
tiff alone and unaided. He declared, in conclusion, that 
clandestine marriages were against justice, charity, and 
honesty, and that they were condemned both in the eastern 

1 and western churches. 

On the 10th of September, the votes, having been all given, 
were found to be divided into four classes. The first asserted 
that the Church possessed the power to annul such mar- 

J riages. The second denied it. The third granted that the 

I Church possessed that power when a sufficient cause existed 
for its exercise, but that that cause was wanting. The 
fourth held that, whereas the power of the Church is 
maintained by some, denied by others, the question was 

i reduced to one of dogma, and that no determination ought 
to be made on either side, when so many were found on the 



464 THE HISTORY OF THE 



opposition. However, after a lengthy disputation, before 
the session was celebrated, almost all agreed on two points, 
viz., that the deliberation involved dogma ; that the dogma 
was true in as far as it did not oppose the decree, since the 
Church really had that power in question, when a fitting 
cause was at hand — an opinion in which nearly all the 
minor theologians agreed. The question thus resolved itself 
into whether a fitting cause existed in the present instance. 
One hundred and thirty-three were in favour of the decree, 
and fifty-six were against it ; the rest inclining to various 
modifications of either opinion, probably of lit+le importance, 
and lacking any consistent support. 

Mhtr 8exoab mii bmoqqo faodQiscndS btid oijw ^jiiaoli 
CHAPTER XLIX. 



further Disputes. 



The pontiff, observes Pallavicino,* was by no means averse 
to the discussion of lay abuses, and that for two reasons. 
He hoped that the necessity of self-defence would absorb the 
energies of the ruling power, and turn away their attention 
from the Roman court. Again, there was a kind of " tu 
quoque" in retorting from the Church upon the secular 
princes; which, however illogical in its conclusions, and 
unjustifiable as a defence of the compromising system of the 
Romish court, was nevertheless not to be despised by those, 
who had few better resources to fall back upon. u But the 
state of Christendom was such as to make the pontiff de- 
sirous of seeing disputes at an end, and of rather hushing 
up and compounding for a difficulty, than running the odious 
chance of a new series of doubts and squabbles. Accord- 
ingly, his advice to his legates was to avoid coming to any 
decision on a subject so complicated and unsatisfactory as 
the question of the annulling of marriage. 

Although the legates felt disposed to take the same view 
of the question, and were as anxious as the pontiff to be 
freed from the discomforts of a long and unsatisfactory dis- 
cussion, they nevertheless resolved to make one more 

1 xxii. 9, 1. 

u Certain transactions between the Spanish ambassadors and the 
pontiff gave reason to dread a suspension of the council, which, however, 
proved a groundless suspicion. — Pallav. §§3, 4. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



465 



attempt to settle the point at issue, and, on the 1 3th of Sep- 
tember, they called together a general meeting of prelates 
and theologians. Those selected for the disputation were 
divided into two classes, — those who opposed, and those who 
advocated the decree rendering clandestine marriages null. 
In the former class were Adriano Valentino, a Venetian, 
Francisco Torres, Salmeron the J esuit, who appears to have 
changed his views from those he formerly entertained,* John 
Peletier, and an English divine, whose name is unknown. 
In the latter class were Francisco Foriero, a Dominican, 
Diego Payva, Simon Vigor, Bichard Dupre, and Peter 
Fonditonio. 

Hosius, who had throughout opposed the decree with 
great earnestness, opened the debate. He briefly recom- 
mended the theologians to avoid mere subtilties, and look 
only to the discovery of the truth. He reminded them, that 
although the presidents relied greatly on the judgment of 
the fathers, they did not stand in the synod like trees, devoid 
of sense, and which only bent themselves according to the 
pressure of outward force ; and that they themselves in like 
manner ought to be influenced by the inward power of 
thought. He alleged that the previous disputes had not 
removed the doubt as to the power of the Church to intro- 
duce this new hinderance ; since in all previous impediments, 
some reference had been had to a previous act, which had 
been the cause of the impediment arising between the par- 
ties contracting ; but that such a cause was wanting on the 
present occasion. He therefore exhorted them to deliver 
their opinions quietly and moderately. 

The main point of dispute was the possession of the right. 
Those who favoured the decree alleged that the onus of 
pleading lay on their opponents; whilst they themselves, as 
possessing that right, thought it sufficient to reply in defence 
thereof. Their opponents rejoined, that the right of posses- 
sion rather favoured the defenders of the ancient practice of 
the Church, and those who resisted innovation. Others, on 
the contrary, said that the Church possessed the power of 
constituting impediments rendering marriages invalid ; and 
therefore that he, who denied such jurisdiction to the Church, 

x See Waterworth, p. ccxxxi, mte. 
2 H 



466 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



took upou himself the onus probandi. The first legate then 
expressed a wish that those, who supported the measure, 
would state their reasons for so doing. A fresh dispute 
arose between those who contended for the power, and those 
who held for the propriety of the act. Peletier held that 
any confession of the inability of the Church was to be avowed 
as odious, and threw his argument upon non-expediency. 
Adriano took up the opposite view, and inpugned the power 
of the Church, declaring that there was nothing improper in 
her judgment respecting the sacraments, even if she willed 
that rose-water should be used in baptism. Payva replied, 
that the Church had the power of changing the nature of 
marriage, by taking away the validity of the contract, 
as was evident in the impediments it placed between the 
parties contracting; and that it had that power, because the 
condition of the parties interfered with some one of the 
express advantages, for the sake of which marriage was insti- 
tuted. Finally, it was certain, that the obscurity of a clan- 
destine marriage did more mischief to those advantages, than 
affinity in the fourth degree. The other replied, that the 
evils resulting from clandestine marriages were accidental, 
and arose out of the vice of men ; and that there was there- 
fore no parallel between those impediments and natural ones, 
such as are those in a marriage between relations. Payva 
replied, that the only point to be considered was, whether 
the evil was a frequent one, either by accident or by nature ; 
since under either circumstance it is equally mischievous, and 
stands equally in need of a remedy. Lainez, who wished to 
exclude at least the exercise of this power from the Church, 
maintained the previous usage of the Church for fifteen 
centuries; although the same evils had always existed, and 
therefore the same plea for a change in the prevailing system. 
But it was replied, that this reason, if carried out, might 
have been used to prevent any of the many changes that 
had taken place during that intervals By degrees the dis- 
putes grew more and more violent, and the meeting ended 
in little else than an arbitrary confusion. 

j These arguments are neatly and lucidly summed up by Waterworth, 
p. ccxxxi. Compare Paleotto, p. 599, sqq. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



119x1* 9&&goI isi8 9iPt jftaadorq etuao oxft 'Msemid uoqis Jooi 
CHAPTER L. 

Revival of the Dispute about the Representing Clause. Prorogation of 
the Session. 

Just about this time, the Count di Luna, having received 
a message from his royal master, thought fit to revive the 
uncomfortable dispute about the representing clause, de- 
manding either its omission or explanation. " The real 
object," says Dr. Waterworth, " was to throw obstacles in 
the way of reforming the evils occasioned by secular princes 
in ecclesiastical matters ; the ambassador imagining that, by 
taking out of the hands of the legates the sole power of 
proposing, such confusion might be created, as would render 
it impossible to pass any scheme of reform on that head." 2 

The legates, in answer, referred to the liberty of proposing 
enjoyed by others than the legates, especially to the demands 
made by the French respecting clandestine marriage, and 
those of the Venetians respecting the customs of the Greeks. 
They also showed the necessity of laying the whole of the 
articles before the fathers, especially the one respecting the 
lay princes, agreeably to their own promise and that of the 
sovereign pontiff. 

Finding that it was in vain to hope for the celebration of 
the session on the appointed day, Morone, in a meeting on 
the 15th of September, after pointing out the difficulties 
which had hindered so desirable a consummation, proposed 
that it should be postponed till the 11th of November. The 
cardinal of Lorraine expressed his regret at the necessity 
which compelled the postponement of the session ; but at the 
same time he felt persuaded that the intermediate time would 
be well spent, and that the much-wanted reform would be 
rendered perfect. But many of the fathers thought so long 
a delay wholly unjustifiable, and that nothing else was 
sought for but to detain them till the depth of winter, so 
that the Spanish and French prelates would not be able to 
leave before the approach of the following spring. But, as 
Paleotto a observes, this delay could scarcely be dispensed 
with • since, among the legates themselves, Hosius and 
Simonetta both persisted that they would never consent to 



2 P. ccxxxii. a P. 603, sq. 

2 h 2 



.TO2THT HO JIDHUOO 
THE HISTORY OF THE 

BXHxrmj am to riox+Bioaqxe odj vzslSdtsob 8«tz ^jragg^ xotbS! 
a decree rendering such mamages void, unless they were 

convinced by stronger reasons than had been yet brought 
forward. Again, all the royal ambassadors were opposed to 
the idea of terminating the session without the articles of 
reform being handled, fearing that, when once the sacrament 
of matrimony was arranged, the council might be broken up, 
leaving the reformation as yet incomplete. Moreover, the 
cardinal of Lorraine was just upon his departure for Rome, 
whence he could not be expected in less than a month. 
These reasons certainly seemed sufficient to exonerate the 
legates from the charge of driving off the session, in order 
to curry favour with the princes. 

" As to the Count di Luna," continues Paleotto, " it was 
reported that he was doing all in his power to retard the 
council ; for in the previous session he had demanded that 
it should be delayed some days ; and he was also said to be 
continually urging the emperor to send some German here- 
tics to Trent, to treat with the fathers respecting doctrine, 
and who, under a safe-conduct, might be able to repeat all 
that had been done previously, and lead them into a lengthy 
dispute. It was also said, that, even at Rome, the imperial 
ministers were opposed to precipitating the affairs of the 
council, and thought that all matters should be maturely 
discussed, all which was thought to tend to this — that no 
end to the council should be found for many years." 

exfr t 8xioitee4fii i9xi:ro gnoffij* t doidvr fix t 89g£mjsxiT aaiteshn&h 
CHAPTER LI. 

Departure of Lorraine and other French Prelates. 

Whether Father Paul is right in attributing the delay of 
the session to the direct suggestion of the pontiff, seems 
doubtful ; but it seems more certain that the length of the 
prorogation was contrived chiefly with a view of giving him 
the benefit of his favourite statesman's advice. But the 
cardinal's errand was an important one, being to propose to 
the pope a conference between his holiness, the emperor, 
and king of Spain, and the queen's own son, in whose train 
she herself would be. The pope received Lorraine with the 
highest honour, but seemed better disposed to the meeting 
suggested than the cardinal. But the main business, as 



468 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 469 

3HT TO YHOT8IH 3HT 60* 

Sarpi asserts. 15 was doubtless the expectation of the termina- 
tion of the council. Without entering into the question of 
the accuracy of the remarks, which Father Paul has made 
upon the supposed conference between the pope and the car- 
dinal, we may refer to them as a happy specimen of natural 
political inferences, which, if not actually representing what 
was spoken on the occasion, are at least very like what might 
have been. 

Nine French bishops followed the cardinal ; and a report 
prevailed that there was a purpose, at the persuasion of the 
Huguenots, to recall the others, in order that, as the end of 
the council was now approaching, no Frenchman might be 
present when they should be anathematized. 

&d$ brater ocfr lewoq a iff m jjo. wph &sw sd ;ted+ bedioasi 
CHAPTER LII. 

Discussions respecting the Propositions of Reform. 

The twenty-one d articles of reform had meanwhile been 
under discussion. In the first article, on the election of 
bishops, the cardinal of Lorraine suggested that, instead of 
icorthy, the words more worthy should be used, in describing 
the qualifications of those to be endowed with the episcopal 
dignity. This was accordingly altered, and various disputes, 
which Father Paul only mentions " for the order of the 
story," e and minute suggestions and modifications took place. 
A new draught was also prepared of the decree respecting 
clandestine marriages, in which, among other alterations, the 
clause annulling the marriage of children without the con- 
sent of their parents was omitted. 

After the cardinal of Lorraine had left Trent, the dis- 
cussion was renewed. Father Paul here introduces an 
abridgment of the obnoxious chapter respecting the refor- 
mation of abuses resulting from secular influence, which I 

' b P. 70. ertixjjovjsl aid Ito 

c So Father Paul. But Paleotto ascribes their departure simply to 

their being worn out with the prolixity of the council. 

d See Courayer, p. 646, sq., and Mendham, p. 289. It is not worth 

while to mark the different dates on which the changes and additions 

were made. 

e P. 762. The next few pages are taken up with discussions on these 
propositions. 



j 



470 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



make no apology for introducing in the present place. It is 
to the following effect : f — 

" The synod, besides the things constituted concerning 
ecclesiastical persons, hath thought fit to correct the abuses 
of the seculars, brought in against the immunity of the 
Church, hoping that the princes will be content, and cause 
due obedience to be rendered to the clergy. And therefore 
it doth admonish them to cause their magistrates, officers, 
and temporal lords, to yield their obedience to the pope and 
constitutions of the council, which themselves are bound to 
perform. And for facilitation hereof, it doth renew some 
things decreed by the holy canons and imperial laws, in 
favour of ecclesiastical immunity, which ought to be observed 
upon pain of anathema. 

1. " That ecclesiastical persons may not be judged in a 
secular court, howsoever there may be doubt of the title of 
the clerkship, or themselves consent, or have renounced the 
things obtained, or for any cause whatsoever, though under 
pretence of public utility and service of the king ; nor shall 
be proceeded against there as cause of murder, if it be not 
truly and properly a murder, and notoriously known, nor in 
other cases permitted by the law, without the declaration of 
the law going before. 

2. " That in causes spiritual of matrimony, heresy, patron- 
age, beneficial, civil, criminal, and mixed, belonging in what 
manner soever to the ecclesiastical court, as well over per- 
sons as over goods, tithes, fourths, and other portions apper- 
taining to the Church, or over beneficial patrimonies, eccle- 
siastical fees, temporal jurisdiction of churches, the temporal 
judges shall not meddle, neither in the petitory nor in the 
possessory, taking away all appeal upon pretence of justice 
denied, or as from an abuse, or because the things obtained 
are renounced ; and those who shall have recourse to the 
secular magistrate, in the causes aforesaid, shall be excom- 
municated, and deprived of their rites belonging unto them 
in these things. And this shall be observed also in causes 
depending in what instance soever. 

3. " That the seculars shall not appoint judges in causes 

f I follow the brief account of Paleotto, p. 292, sq. ; with Mendham. 
Pallavicino, xxiii. 2, is fuller. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



471 



ecclesiastical, though they have apostolic authority, or a 
custom time out of mind ; and the clerks who shall receive 
such offices from the laity, though by virtue of any privilege 
whatsoever, shall be suspended from their orders, deprived of 
their benefices and offices, and made incapable of them. 

4. " That the seculars shall not command the ecclesiastical 
judge, not to excommunicate without license, or to revoke 
or suspend the excommunication denounced, nor forbid him 
to examine, cite, and condemn, or to have Serjeants or 
ministers for execution. 

5. " That neither the emperor, kings, nor any prince 
whatsoever, shall make edicts or constitutions, in what man- 
ner soever, concerning ecclesiastical causes, or persons, nor 
meddle with their persons, causes, jurisdictions, or tribunals, 
no not in the Inquisition, but shall be bound to afford the 
secular arm to ecclesiastical judges. 

6. " That the temporal jurisdiction of the ecclesiastics, 
though with mere and mixed power, shall not be disturbed, 
nor their subjects drawn to the secular tribunals in causes 
temporal. 

7. " That no prince or magistrate shall promise by brief, 
or other writing, or give hope to any to have a benefice 
within their dominions, nor procure it from the prelates, or 
chapters of regulars, and he that shall obtain it by those 
means shall be deprived and incapable. 

8. " That they shall not meddle with the fruits of bene- 
fices vacant, under pretence of custody or patronage, or pro- 
tection, or of withstanding discords, nor shall place there 
bailiffs or vicars ; and the seculars who shall accept offices and 
custodies shall be excommunicated, and the clerks suspended 
from their orders and deprived of their benefices. 

9. " That the ecclesiastics shall not be forced to pay taxes, 
gavels, tithes, passages, subsidies, though in the name of 
gift or loan, either in respect of the church goods, and of 
their patrimonial, except in provinces, where by ancient cus- 
tom the ecclesiastics themselves do assist in public parliaments, 
to impose subsidies both upon the laity and the clergy, to 
make war against the infidels, or for other urgent necessities. 

10. u That they shall not meddle with ecclesiastical goods, 
i moveable or immoveable, vassalages, tithes, or other rights, 

nor in the goods of communities or private men, where the 



472 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Church has any right ; nor shall rent out the pasturage or 
herbage which groweth in the lands and possessions of the 
Church. 

11. " That the letters, citations, and sentences of judges 
ecclesiastical, especially of the court of Rome, so soon as 
they be exhibited, shall be intimated, without exception, 
published, and executed ; neither shall it be necessary to 
require consent or license, which is called ( Exequatur' or 
6 Placet? or by any other name, either for this, or for taking 
possession of benefices, though upon pretence of withstanding 
falsehoods and violences, except in fortresses and those bene- 
fices in which princes are acknowledged by reason of the 
temporality ; and in case there shall be doubt of falsity, or 
of some great scandal or tumult, the bishop, as the pope's 
delegate, shall constitute what he thinks needful. 

12. " That princes and magistrates shall not lodge their 
officers, servants, soldiers, horses, or dogs, in the houses in 
monasteries of the ecclesiastics, nor take anything from them 
for their food or passage. 

13. J And if any kingdom, province, or place, shall pretend 
not to be bound to any of the things aforesaid, by virtue of 
privileges of the Apostolic See, which are in actual use, the 
privileges shall be exhibited to the pope, within a year after 
the end of the council, which shall be confirmed by him, 
according to the merits of the kingdoms or provinces ; and in 
case they be not exhibited before the end of the year, they 
shall be understood to be of no force. And for the epilogue, 
there was an admonition to all princes to have in veneration 
the things which concern the clergy, as peculiar to God, and 
not to suffer them to be offended by others, renewing all 
the constitutions of popes and holy canons, in favour of 
ecclesiastical immunity, commanding under pain of anathema, 
that neither directly nor indirectly, under any pretence 
whatsoever, anything be constituted or executed against 
the persons or goods of the clergy, or against the liberty, 
any privileges or exemptions, though immemorial, notwith- 
standing.'" 

" Had the compilers of this inflammatory chapter," ob- 
serves Mendham, " confined themselves . to the argument 
that, if the secular princes were so hard upon the papacy for 
its offences in the distribution of ecclesiastical patronage and 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



473 



government, and required suitable reformation, it was but 
reasonable that the secular princes, who have a considerable 
portion of such patronage and government, and were guilty 
enough in their degree, should acquiesce in, if they did not 
even voluntarily propose, proportionable reformation on their 
own part, they would have stood on ground comparatively 
solid. But reckoning probably upon the fact, that the spirit 
which animates the whole body of the system, whether in 
the secular or ecclesiastical division, is callous to all percep- 
tions of equity, it was felt useless to take a position which 
they were conscious would only lead to endless recrimina- 
tion ) and therefore they adopted the broad and open 
course, which has so often succeeded, of arrogant and over- 
bearing assumption." 

The reception of this chapter by the French king was 
anything but favourable ; and in a letter which reached 
Trent just before the cardinal of Lorraine set out, he declared 
that his hopes in the council were quite disappointed, and 
that such a measure as the one proposed was " to pare the 
king's nails, and make those of churchmen longer." He also 
alleged, that he had heard that it was their intention to 
annul the marriage of the deceased king of Navarre with 
Queen Joanna, and thereby render his son Henry a bas- 
tard, incapable of succession; by which means that kingdom 
would be left a prey to others. He declared that he would 
never suffer such enormous detriment, and commanded his 
ambassadors and prelates to protest against and resist it 
with all their might, and, if they failed in so doing, to leave 
the council, lest they should seem to sanction those decrees 
even by their presence. 

Although Lorraine expressed himself surprised at the 
doubts of the king, it is difficult, if we consider his subse- 
quent behaviour, to believe that he was not perfectly aware 
of their existence long before. The legates were already 
employed in softening down the harshness of the obnoxious 
chapter; but the ambassadors seem to have determined to 
take advantage of the king's letter to pick a fresh quarrel. 
Concealing their real intentions, they first endeavoured to 
exonerate the court of France from being the cause of the 
departure of some of the bishops who had recently left Trent, 
declaring that they had done so against the will of the queen, 



474 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



who would probably command their return. They then 
stated that the king was delighted with the news of the 
excellent reform which was in agitation, and had directed 
them to make certain demands. These proved trivial enough ; 
and the legates, dreading a renewal of the demand for omit- 
ting the proposing clause, consented to them forthwith. 

But on the 22nd of September De Ferrier? delivered a 
spirited but querulous oration, in which he observed that 
they might say to the fathers as did the ambassadors of the 
Jews to the priests : " Ought we also to continue weeping and 
lamenting?" 11 that more than a hundred and fifty years have 
passed since the most Christian kings demanded of the popes 
a reformation of the ecclesiastical discipline, and that with 
that view only have they sent ambassadors to the synods of 
Constance, Basle, Lateran, and Trent. And in the demands 
thus made nothing was sought for but a reformation of 
the manners of the ministers of the Church ; yet must they 
still fast and lament, not seventy years, but two hundred, 
and God grant they be not three hundred, and many more. 
" And," pursues the quaint translator of Sarpi, " if any 
should say that satisfaction hath been given them by decrees 
and anathematisms, they did not think that this was to 
satisfy, to give one thing in payment for another. If it 
shall be said, that they ought to be satisfied with a great 
bundle of reformation proposed the month before, they had 
spoken their opinion concerning that, and sent it to the 
king, who had answered, that he saw few things in it be- 
fitting the ancient discipline, but many things contrary. 
That it was not the plaster of Isaias to heal the wound, but 
of Ezekiel, to make it raw, though healed before." His next 
observations are especially valuable, when we consider how 
nearly the presumptuous claims of the Boman pontiffs have 
touched upon the boundaries of our own church and state. 
The ambassadors continued to state, " that these additions of 
excommunicating and anathematizing princes were without 
example in the ancient Church, and did make a way to rebel- 
lion; and all the articles concerning the reformation of kings 

s I follow Father Paul's account of this speech, which is more accu- 
rate than Pallavicino's, as is evident from Paleotto, p. 606, sqq. 

h An allusion to Zech. vii. 3 : " Should I weep in the fifth month, 
separating myself, as I have done these so many years ? H 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



475 



and princes have no aim but to take away the liberty of the 
French Church, and offend the majesty of the most Christian 
king . . . who have not only not displeased the popes, but 
they have inserted some of them in their decrees, and judged 
Charles the Great and Louis the Ninth principal authors of 
them, worthy of the name of saints." After speaking of the 
practical realization of the ecclesiastical law in France, he 
sneered at the proceedings of the council, and made a spirited 
attack upon numberless financial abuses of the Church, and 
went on to say, " that the king marvelled at two things : one, 
that they, the fathers, having assembled only to restore eccle- 
siastical discipline, not regarding this, should bind themselves 
to reform those whom they ought to obey, though they were 
stiff-necked ; another, that they should think they can and 
ought, without any admonition, excommunicate and anathe- 
matize kings and princes, which are given by God to men, 
which ought not to be done to any ordinary man, though 
persevering in a most grievous offence. He said that 
Michael the Archangel durst not curse the devil, or Micah, 
or Daniel, the most wicked kings, and yet they, the fathers, 
were wholly conversant in maledictions against kings and 
princes, and against the most Christian, if he will defend the 
laws of his ancestors and the liberty of the Gallican Church." 
In conclusion, he declared " that the king did desire them not 
to decree anything against those laws ; or, if they should, that 
he commanded his ambassadors to oppose the decrees, as 
then they did oppose them. But if, omitting the princes, 
they would attend seriously to that which all the world 
expecteth, it would be most acceptable to the king, who did 
command them, the ambassadors, to further that enterprise," 1 
The reader will almost naturally foresee the dissatisfaction 
to which such unmeasured freedom of speech would give 
rise. But the vexation was increased by the fact, that, » 
as the obnoxious chapter had not yet been proposed in con- 
gregation, and could not therefore be made the subject of pub- 
lic disputation, all the suspicions respecting the disaffection 
of De Ferrier towards the council were renewed and 
strengthened ; in fact, a way was being rapidly paved to the 
alienation of the French power, lay and ecclesiastical, from 
the whole affair. 

* Brent's Sarpi, p. 772, sq. 



476 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



On the following day, the bishop of Monte Fiascone, a 
prelate who ultimately rose to the cardinalate, answered 
the attack made by the French ambassador, throwing upon 
the French the whole blame of what they had alleged against 
others. The main gist of his discourse was, that the synod 
ought to compel ambassadors to show their commission ; since 
their words appeared to be strangely at variance with the 
letters they laid before the public assembly. An anonymous 
apology was also published, De Ferrier having been requested 
to furnish a copy of his own speech for the purposed But 
he took care to publish a rejoinder, which, so far from doing 
away with the bad impression formed upon his first speech, 
rather increased it. 

CHAPTER HEBE rfd KKHgaaBiJ audi 

Renewal of the Dispute respecting the Proposing Clause. r. 

The Count di Luna, who seems to have required little 
stimulus, when harassing the legates and the synod was to be 
thought of, received some letters from his royal master, cal- 
culated to stir up his most mischievous capabilities for 
aggression. In a word, the old squabble about the right of 
the legates to initiate measures was revived, and so ur- 
gently pressed on the present occasion, that they were com- 
pelled to comply with his requests. After a lapse of two 
months, the king of Spain wrote to Di Luna requiring that a 
decree might be published, calculated to leave perfect liberty 
to the council, and inclosing a form which he wished to be 
published by the legates, declaring that it was free both for 
the prelates and their princes to propose measures. The 
legates replied, that, so far from princes having any right to 
propose, they were only permitted to be present by courtesy ; 
and that prelates were excluded, because that right belonged 
peculiarly to the presiding legates. After some forms had 
been proposed, the count presented one which he stated was 

k It may be observed, that some said he had pronounced it otherwise 
than it was written. Whereunto he replied, that that could not be said 
by any that had any mean understanding of the Latin, and that, how- 
soever it was the same pronounced and written, yet if they thought 
otherwise, they must remember that the style of the synod was never to 
judge of things as they were delivered in voice, but as they were exhi- 
bited in writing. — Sarpi, p. 774, sq. 



COCXCIL OF TRENT. 



477 



agreeable to Lis king's orders. The legates consulted the 
fathers, who thought it derogatory from the credit of the 
synod that what it had once, determined should be made a 
subject of fresh consideration, besides expressing their objec- 
tion to certain clauses in the form proposed. In this dilemma, 
the legates referred to some letters which they had formerly 
received from Pius; and, in one of May, they found that he 
empowered them to make the declaration, as from himself, 
that, if the words " proponentibus legatis" should seem to 
detract from the liberty of the synod, they should either 



On their making an explanation to this effect, the count 
replied, that he could not be satisfied therewith, as he should 
thus transgress the commands of his sovereign. The legates 
replied, that they were equally bound by their obedience to 
the pontiff; and they therefore resolved to refer the matter 
to the free voice of the council : and observed, that the king 
of Spain, although so careful of the liberty of the council, was 
the first disturber of that liberty in the person, and late act, 
of his ambassador, who had lately expelled a canon from 
the council for speaking his mind. H The count was still 
more irritated by this reply, and he charged the legates with 
want of good faith, and with having broken their promise 
imder cover of the pontiff's letters, and wasted his own time 
in mere empty forms of consultation. He also asserted, that 
they had used indirect means to secure the voices of the 
fathers in favour of the obnoxious clause. The legates 
attempted to justify themselves by a reference to the let- 
ters of the pontiff, and denied that they had employed any 
improper influence. The count then prepared another pro- 
test, in which he had hopes that the fathers would join ; but 
the legates, through the mediation of the emperors ambas- 
sadors, persuaded him to desist from presenting it. He • 
therefore wrote to his holiness, expressing a hope that he 
would both abide by his own promise and compel the legates 
to be more observing of theirs." 1 

1 I follow the brief account of Paleotto, p. 613, sq., which, as a con- 
temporary document, gives a better idea than any abridgment of the 
lengthy chapters devoted to these disputes by the other historians. 




i ct or explain them away. 



478 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER LIV. 

Discussions on Reformation. Remarks of RanTce. 

Meanwhile the disputes respecting reformation were being 
pursued with considerable diligence. But little occurs worthy 
of particular notice, 01 except the animated and bitter speech 
of the bishop of Guadix, who attacked the officials of the 
Roman court, denouncing their avarice and cupidity, and 
enumerating the outrageous charges to himself in particular, 
" for issuing bulls to his church, amounting to 4,856, of some 
unnamed, but, it may be presumed, familiar and intelligible 
species of money." 11 f This speech," says Pallavicino, " seemed 
to proceed rather from mental excitement than from a care 
for religion, and therefore gave no small dissatisfaction to the 
rest of the Spaniards, and even to the Count di Luna, since 
it seemed a likely means to place their nation in an invidious 
light." The bishop of Eocera, however, gave the speaker 
credit for conscientious intentions ; but added, that if it was 
treason to withdraw the revenues of temporal princes, how 
much the more serious offence was it to interfere with those 
of the sovereign pontiff? 

I have, from time to time, laid before my reader the bold 
and masterly remarks of Ranke, on the different changes in 
the working of this council, and, on the present occasion, as 
his observations bear immediately upon the history of the 
two last sessions, I shall beg leave to anticipate a little, in 
order to avoid disconnecting matters which he has thought 
fit to consider together. If we consider that the last session 
was but the completion of the work left undone from the 
previous one, this anticipation of certain points will be more 
excusable. 

I have already shown the quiet diplomacy pursued by Mo- 
rone, and the system of avoiding or explaining away offensive 
terms, which became so fashionable towards the end of the 
council. While we must feel that the unconscientious cha- 

m For the right understanding, however, of the decrees and canons 
in their present state, the third chapter of Pallavicino's twenty-third 
book is very important. Paleotto is meagre on the subject. 

n Mendham, p. 293. ° Pallav. xxiii. 3, 25. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



479 



racter of this mode of cutting the knot admits of no apology, 
and while we must perceive the gross inconsistency of an 
infallible Church sheltering itself in a good-natured ambi- 
guity, what has been already written will, I trust, convince 
the reader that Rome had no other terms left her. The 
constant opposition of ambassadors, the dissensions of pre- 
lates, and the languor and sickliness with which the very 
name of the council was now associated, were sufficient 
reasons to make all determined to get rid of it as quickly as 
possible. It had become a necessary evil ; and there was a 
kind of pleasure in knowing that it was all over, a feeling 
with which too many persons in power are doomed to regard 
those movements, which they have either themselves origi- 
nated, or to which they have succeeded through the miscal- 
culation or misfortune of their predecessors. 

Summing up the difficulties which met the pontiff and his 
ministers in the year 1568, Ranke, after noticing the old 
controversy respecting the subject of residence, and the divine 
right of residence, observes : — " For a long time the Spaniards 
held out in defence of their doctrine on this head, declaring 
it, so late a^ in July, 1563, as infallible as the ten com- 
mandments . . . Nevertheless, when the decree came to be 
drawn up, they submitted to the omission from it of their 
favourite opinion. A form, however, was adopted, that 
still left them a possibility of arguing in favour of their own 
views. This very ambiguity in the decree Lainez made the 
subject of his special praise. 

" The same course was pursued with respect to the other 
contested point, the initiative, — the proponentibus legatis. The 
pope declared that every one should be at liberty to ask and 
to say whatever he had a right, in accordance with the 
usages of ancient councils, to ask and to say ; but he 
cautiously abstained from employing the word propose. P An 
expedient was thus hit upon, with which the Spaniards were 
satisfied, although it did not involve the slightest concession 
I on the pope's part. 

" The obstacles," continues this thoughtful historian, 
" arising out of political considerations being removed, the 

p Pallav. xxiii. 6, 5. 



j 

J 



480 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



questions which had given occasion to bitterness and wran- 
gling, were dealt with, not so much with a view to decide them, 
as to get rid of them by some dexterous accommodation. 

" In this disposition of the council, the less serious affairs 
were got through with so much the greater ease. Never did 
the council's proceedings make more rapid progress. The 
important dogmas of clerical ordination, the sacrament of 
marriage, indulgence, purgatory, the adoration of saints, and 
by far the weightiest measure of reform it ever adopted, 
belong to the last three sessions in the second half of the 
year 1563. The congregations on every one of these topics 
were composed of different nations. The project of reform 
was concerted in five separate assemblies, one of them 
French, presided over by the Cardinal de Guise, one Spanish, 
at the head of which was the archbishop of Granada, and 
three Italian. <i 

" They easily agreed on most questions : only two real 
difficulties presented themselves, — the question as to the 
exemption of chapters, and plurality of benefices, in which 
private interests again played an important part. 

" The former question particularly affected Spain, where 
the chapters had already lost something of the Extraordinary 
freedom they had once possessed. Whilst it was their wish 
to regain this, the king conceived the design of still further 
curtailing their privileges ; for the nomination of the bishops 
being vested in himself, he had an interest in extending this 
authority. The pope, on the other hand, was for the chapters, 
the absolute subjection of which to the bishops, would have 
not a little diminished his influence over the Spanish Church. 
On this point, therefore, these two great powers were again 
in collision, and it was a question which of them would com- 
mand a majority. The king, too, was exceedingly strong in 
the council. His ambassador had succeeded in excluding 
from it a delegate sent by the chapters, to watch over their 
rights. He had so much ecclesiastical patronage at his dis- 
posal, that every one was reluctant to break with him. The 
opinions pronounced orally were unfavourable to the chapters ; 
but they deserve the device adopted by the papal legates to 

* "The best accounts on this," observes Eanke, in his note, "are to 
be found where they would be least expected, in Baini, Vita di Pales- 
trina, i. 199, derived from authentic letters." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



481 



counteract that result. They decided that the votes should, 
on this occasion, be taken in writing : the viva voce declara- 
tions alone, made in the presence of so many of the king's 
adherents, were shaped in compliance with his views, not the 
written ones, which were placed in the legate's hands. By 
tins scheme they at last obtained an important majority for 
the papal views and for the chapters. Encouraged by this, 
they then entered, through Guise's mediation, into negotiations 
with the Spanish prelates, who, in the end, contented them- 
selves with a much more moderate extension of their immu- 
nities than they had contemplated. r 

" Whilst the pope thus successfully maintained the sub- 
sistence of the Roman court in the form it had hitherta 
worn, he also manifested his readiness to drop the project 
that had been entertained of a reformation of princes. On 
this head he yielded to the emperor's representations. 3 

" The whole of the proceedings were actually like those of 
a peaceful congress. 1 While questions of subordinate interest 
were discussed to general conclusions by the divines, those 
of more importance were subjects of negotiation between the 
courts. Couriers were incessantly flying to and fro, and 
one succession was requited with another. 

" The pope's foremost object was to bring the council to a 

r Sarpi, viii. 816, does not give a very clear account of this matter, 
Morone's authentic explanation is veiy acceptable : — " L' articolo delle 
cause e dell' essenzioni di canonici fu vinto secondo la domanda degli 
oltramontani : poi facendosi contra 1* uso, che li padri tutti dessero voti 
in iscritto, furono mutato molte sententie, e fa vinto il contrario. Si 
venne al fin alia concordia che si vede nei decreti, e fu mezzano Lorena, 
che gia era tornato da Roma, tutto additto al servitio di S. Beatitudine 
et alia fine del concilio." [The article of the causes and essential attri- 
i butes of the clergy was passed in accordance with the views of the 
ultramontanes : afterwards the order being broken through, according 
to which the assembled fathers should have given their votes in writing, 
many opinions were changed, and the contrary resolution was adopted. 
At last the council came to that agreement which is seen in its decrees, 
the mediator being the cardinal of Lorraine, who had now returned 
from Home, entirely devoted to the service of his holiness, and to the 
ends of the council.] — Ranke. 

s "That a rigid reform of the curia, the cardinals, and the conclave 
did not take place, was in close keeping with the omission of a reforma- 
tion of the princes." — Ranke, note. 

1 Compare the opinion of Ranke's countryman, Danz, quoted above, 
ch. viii. 

2 i 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



speedy close. For a while the Spaniards held out against 
this : they were not satisfied with the reforms that had been 
effected \ and the king's ambassadors once even made a show 
of protesting : but as the pope declared his readiness to call 
a new synod in case of urgency, 11 as every one was alive to 
the inconvenience that would ensue, were the papal see to 
become vacant pending a council; and lastly, as every one 
was tired and longed to return home, even the Spaniards 
gave way in the end." 

CHAPTER LV. 

Last Congregation previous to the Twenty-fourth Session* 

From the remarks of this acute historian of the Popedom, 
it will be seen that the main difficulties, which had worried 
the legates throughout the present session, were in a fair 
way towards a satisfactory solution, while the activity of the 

u Pallav. xxiv. 8, 5. 

x See Mendham, p. 29 6, for some important remarks respecting the 
manner of taking the votes, which seems to have excited some very 
ugly opinions about this time. The same author also refers to some 
MS. instructions given to Visconti, on the last day of October, with 
regard to obtaining an interview between his majesty the most Christian 
king, and his Catholic majesty. ' He observes : "Of all the individuals 
in the council, there were none with whom the legates had so much 
uniform trouble as with the Spanish, both ambassador and prelates ; 
and it could not be doubted that, as they represented, they acted with 
the approbation, if not command, of the sovereign. It was, therefore, 
highly important to the council and its real rulers, that the views of the 
Spanish monarch should undergo some alteration in their favour, and 
this was the object of the embassy of" the bishop of Ventimiglia. He 
was instructed to impress upon the mind of his Catholic majesty the 
purity of his holiness's views and acts, and to obtain his concurrence to 
the progress and prosperous termination of the council. He was to 
suggest that, as the proceedings of his holiness were applauded by all 
the other princes, he had the more reason to expect the assistance of 
that prince, who had shown such an affection for the Catholic religion, 
and whose dominions were less infected with heresies than any other in 
Christendom. His holiness's dependence was upon the sovereigns, and 
particularly upon him, not less zealous of the universal good than of his 
own Catholic name. France, in particular, excited his commiseration ; 
and he was anxious that, himself forming one, there should be a per- 
sonal conference of the three principal parties ; and, in indulgence to his 
own age and infirmities, he proposed that Nice, in the south of France, 
should be the place of meeting." The remaining points of the letter 
are both important and interesting. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



483 



congregations had gradually succeeded either in preparing 
the decrees in a fit form for ratification in session, or — what 
was of equal importance — ? in smothering the opposition 
which had arisen upon obnoxious points. Despite, therefore, 
the many differences that existed respecting some of the 
decrees, matters seemed rapidly on the road to a comfortable 
adjustment. 

It had been also privately agreed, that, in the event of 
the question of clandestine marriages not being satisfactorily 
settled, it should be referred to his Holiness for decision. On 
the morning of the 9th of November, two private meetings 
were held, in order to put the final touches to certain clauses 
in the decrees, and on the following day they were submitted 
to the last general congregation. 

With the view of securing to each prelate a more perfect 
liberty in declaring his opinion, all persons were excluded 
from the congregation who did not possess the right of 
voting; as, at other meetings, many proctors and leading 
theologians had been allowed to be present. 

The canons and decrees of matrimony were first proposed. 
The cardinal of Lorraine, who had now returned J from his 
agreeable sojourn with the pontiff, objected to the anathema 
pronounced, in the sixth canon, against those who deny that 
matrimony, not consummated, is dissolved by subsequent 
religious profession. He also recommended that the epithet 
ecclesiastical should be omitted in the ninth, and law simply 
retained. In this he was supported by Madrucci, who also 
opposed, in the decree on abduction, the impediments 
created, or rather renewed, inter raptorem et raptam, as also 
the law depriving clandestine marriages of validity. 

Before proceeding to the decrees of discipline, the first 
legate stated, that many had wished the words " saving 

y On the 5th. " Mira prsedicans de sanctitate, religione, ac pietate 
suse beatitudinis." — Paleotto, p. 623. The council had previously been 
"staggered with the news from Rome, of various promotions, at the 
instance of the cardinal. All were astonished and grieved that such 
measures should originate with a man, from whom they had great expec- 
tations in the business of reform — measures both so opposite to his own 
professions, and so repugnant to the decrees which had been passing, and 
were being prepared, in the council. So that all hopes from him were 
at an end, and his best friends allowed that he betrayed the infirmity of 
human nature," — Mendham, p. 295. 

2 i 2 



484 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



always the authority of the Apostolic See" to be prefixed to 
them, but that others more judiciously thought that it would 
be better to append them to the laws of the whole subject 
of reform, when completed. This suggestion was after- 
wards agreed to in session. The decrees of reformation were 
then accepted with but little dissension ; and the question by 
Cardinal Morone, as to whether the explanation of the pro- 
posing clause was satisfactory, met with a unanimous "placet." 
It was also determined that the next session should be held 
on the 9 th of December, bein^ the Thursday after the Con- 
cej)tion of the blessed Virgin. 

But eyen now a fresh difficulty arose from the complaints 
of the Neapolitan bishops against the archbishops, and more 
especially against their own yicars. Their chief cause of 
complaint was, being obliged, under pain of excommunica- 
tion, to attend the metropolis of their own bishopric once 
eyery year, which answered no other purpose than ostenta- 
tion. They also, pursuant to the wish formerly expressed by 
the archbishop of Zara, desired that they should not be sub- 
ject to the visitation of their metropolitan, except for reasons 
approved by a provincial synod. The legates did all in their 
power to compose the difference, dreading the scandal that 
would arise, if it were known that the archbishops and 
bishops were disputing about their priyate rights and 
interests. The archbishops pleaded custom from time imme- 
morial, and contended that the gradual subordination of the 
different ranks forming the hierarchy was a conclusive argu- 
ment in favour of their claim. The bishops wished it to be 
put to the vote, hoping to succeed by dint of numbers. The 
legates vainly strove to appease the disturbance' but, to their 
surprise and delight, the opposing fathers were found in a 
minority. This, however, was found to arise from the haste 
with which the votes were registered, and the Neapolitans 
determined to spare no efforts to procure a decree in their 
favour at the next session. 2 

1 Paleotto, p. 626, sq. ; Pallav. xxiii. 8. 



COUNCIL OF TKENT. 



485 



CHAPTER LVI. 

The Twenty-fourth Session. 

On the lltb. of November the twenty-fourth session was 
held, and Paleotto dwells at length upon the many strange fea- 
tures that distinguished it from previous assemblies. Firstly, 
it lasted for a whole day and part of a night * secondly, all 
the legates and cardinals who were present disagreed on the 
subject of clandestine marriages; thirdly, changes were made 
in three articles ; fourthly, many prelates followed the opinion 
of the archbishop of Zara, although they scarcely knew what 
he had maintained ; and that, even in the very time of 
divine worship, bishops might be seen canvassing others, and 
transmitting private papers — a matter that gave no small 
offence to the more upright portion of the assembly. Again, 
he remarks that when Morone declared the votes aloud, 
according to custom, he stated his own, Simonetta's, and 
another legate's dissent on the subject of clandestine mar- 
riages; which it was thought would prevent any sanction 
respecting the matter being passed by the session. Lastly, 
when in previous sessions all had held that change or addi- 
tion in the canons already drawn up was impracticable, a 
greater number were found in the present one, who dissented 
from, than who agreed to, even one of the measures proposed. 

On this occasion mass was celebrated by Giorgio Cornaro, 
bishop of Trevigi, and the sermon was preached by Francois 
Bichardot, bishop of Arras. After letters had been read 
from Margaret, regent of Flanders, from the grand duke of 
Tuscany, and the grand duke of Malta, the canons and 
decrees on matrimony were read by the celebrant. 

Various expressions of dissent greeted these canons. Mo- 
rone found fault with an anathema being appended to the 
twelfth canon, and thought that, as regards clandestine mar- 
riages, it would be better to follow the judgment of his 
Holiness, since, amid so many contending opinions, the infal- 
libility of the pontiff was the only quarter whence unity 
could be hoped for. 

Hosius being ill, sent, on the following day, a writing, in 
which he also expressed his wish to leave the matter to his 
holiness ; and also stated, that he received the ninth canon 



486 



THE HISTOKY OF THE 



in the sense of the council, which did not intend to define 
that the celibacy of the clergy results from an ecclesiastical 
law, but simply to condemn the very words of Luther. 

Simonetta declared, that he approved of all the decrees, 
except the one rendering clandestine marriages void, which 
he declared his conscience would not allow him to approve, 
unless the pontiff should determine in its favour. Navagero 
gave his unqualified sanction to the whole. The cardinal of 
Lorraine repeated his objection to the sixth canon, and the 
word ecclesiastical in the ninth. Madrucci found fault with 
the fourth and sixth canons, and agreed with Lorraine in 
opposing the word ecclesiastical in the ninth ; he also re- 
newed his protest against the decrees on clandestine mar- 
riages, and on abduction. The patriarch of J erusalem sharply 
attacked the decree respecting clandestine marriages, and 
declared that, as various reasons seemed to render it impos- 
sible to define on the subject, it would be best to leave the 
matter to the pontiff. Not to enter into further detail, 
almost every prelate of any eminence for learning or autho- 
rity spoke on the subject, more especially the archbishops of 
Otranto, Yerallo, Castagna, Matera, and Nicosia. After the 
votes had been collected, the first legate said aloud, after the 
usual form : " The doctrine and canons touching the sacra- 
ment of matrimony have been approved by all, but some 
wished that some addition or omission should be made 
therein. The decree on clandestine marriages has satisfied 
the majority of the fathers, but has displeased fifty-two; 
among whom is the most illustrious Cardinal Simonetta, 
legate of the Apostolic See, who approves not the decree, 
but refers himself to ouf* most holy lord the pope. I also, 
as legate of the Apostolic See, approve of the decree, if it 
shall be approved by our most holy lord." a 

The decrees on general reformation were next read, and 
here an unusual event happened. It was found that the 
votes of the fathers required many alterations in what had 
been already determined in the congregations, and these 
objections were read aloud by the celebrant. Great con- 
fusion arose, as has already been stated, both on the pre- 
ceding evening and on the very morning of the day of the 



a Pallav. xxiii. 9. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



487 



session; for the bishops, finding that their demands had not 
been sufficiently considered in the congregation, as they 
expected, took every means in their power to obtain their 
wishes in the session. The alterations required were in the 
second, third, fifth, and sixth chapters, and turned upon 
exempting the bishops from some of the surveillance of their 
metropolitans. Bishops were to be freed from the necessity 
of annually visiting the metropolitan church, except on such 
occasions as the convocation of a synod ; churches, in 
which suffragans were resident, and their dioceses, were not 
to be visited by the metropolitans, except for a cause to be 
approved by a provincial synod ; minor causes against a 
bishop were to be withdrawn from the metropolitan to a 
provincial synod ; lastly, bishops were to have the power to 
absolve from every secret sin, even from heresy, not except- 
ing those places in which there are inquisitions. 

Many other objections were started, but of minor import- 
ance ; and, at a late hour, Morone proclaimed the result of 
the debate, as follows : — "AH the decrees are approved of by 
nearly all ; many, however, have added appendices and ex- 
planations to various decrees, which do not change the sub- 
stance thereof. In the second, third, fifth, and sixth, some 
matters have been noticed, which will be arranged according 
to the will of the majority, aDd will be held in as much 
account as though they had been arranged in the present 
session." 

The celebrant then read the decree indicting the session 
for the 9 th of December, with power to shorten the time if 
advisable. It was unanimously approved, as was also the 
one stating that the consideration of the sixth chapter, 
relative to the exemption of chapters} should be deferred till 
that session. 

b See the extract from Ranke, quoted in ch. liv. 

c No list of the assembled prelates is found in any of our authorities, 
but the number present was probably much the same as usual. I give 
the following important passage from a letter from the bishop of Ischia 
to Don Giovanni Mauriquez, Nov. 14, 1563, respecting the doings of 
this session, in the words of Mendham, p. 303 : — "The writer is well 
pleased at the quiet and harmonious passing of the session, so much 
beyond expectation, although he dwells a little on the prolixity and 
fatigue attending it. The session, he says, was remarkable for the 
number and importance of the things established in it, and which, pre- 



488 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



CHAPTER LVII. 

Remarks on the Previous Session. Attempt to Excommunicate the Queen 
of Navarre. 

" There was not," observes Father Paul, " such expectation 
of the issue of this session as of the last, as well because the 
general curiosity was then satisfied, as because it did not 
seem that the matter of matrimony could afford anything 
worthy of great observation. The world was more attentive 
to see what issue the protestation made by the French am- 
bassadors would have, which was read with a variety of affec- 
tions. Those who were ill affected to the court of Rome did 
commend it as true and necessary. But the pope's adherents 

ceded as it was by so much controversy, could hardly have been antici- 
pated to conclude so completely to the satisfaction of all parties. Many 
good reforms were resolved upon ; which, chiefly referring to his holiness, 
plainly discovered the zeal and sincerity both of himself and his legates 
in the general measure. Adverting to the future session, the writer 
proceeds to observe, that France, in particular, stood much in need of 
an authentic determination on the subject of images, purgatory, and 
indulgences, but that it was desirable to avoid disputation, and conse- 
quent loss of time, on such subjects. It was therefore thought most 
expedient that certain decrees, under the head of reform of abuses, 
should be prepared. Disputations and subtleties, he adds, are resorted 
to more for ostentation of ability than for edification ; since it is settled 
that there is a purgatory, and that the Church has power to grant 
indulgences ; and these foundations, which are by no means to be called 
in question, being laid, nothing remains but to remove abuses without 
entering into discussion. The cardinal of Lorraine, he observes, was 
quite in this way of thinking ; and matters were put in such a train, 
that if even the legates were disposed to promote disputation, it could not 
be done without strong expressions of repugnance. The Count di Luna, 
although he was in the habit of representing it as his sovereign's desire 
that the discussion of the theologians should precede the establishment 
of decrees, was yet now contented with the remedy of abuses. Contro- 
versies could only prolong the council, without credit or benefit ; and 
the Huguenots would take advantage of such prolongation to call for 
national synods, which could not be done when the present council was 
closed and had concluded everything. Addressing the nationality of 
the person to whom he was writing, he says that nothing more was 
wanting to complete the satisfaction and joy of the council than that the 
king of Spain should cordially unite his endeavours with those of all the 
other princes in bringing the council to a speedy and prosperous termi- 
nation, and his holiness would feel mere indebted to him than to all the 
other crowned heads." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



489 



thought it as abominable as the protestation formerly made 
by Luther."* 

With still greater quaintness, the same author shows the 
reception with which the trifling and unsatisfactory attempt 
to explain away the representing clause was treated by those 
who chose to exert a little honesty and freedom of judgment. 
" In this last point," he observes, " which was in expectation 
so many months, touching the essential liberty of the council, 
seeing it was declared that the meaning of the synod was 
not to change the manner of proceeding, nor to make any 
addition or diminution of the old constitutions, wise men 
said that, concerning the council, it was a declaration con- 
trary to the fact, and published when it did no good ; neither 
was there any more use of it than of medicine applied to a 
dead body. And some mocked, and said, that 'it was as 
much as the consolation of an honest man, whose wife had 
brought him children by other men, and said she did it not 
to do him wrong. But, by an example given to all posterity, 
it did teach how all violence and exorbitance might be used 
in council, from beginning to end, and all inconvenience done 
excused by such a declaration, yea, justified and maintained 
for lawful." e 

Nothing could be worse than the state of affairs in France. 
Setting aside other matters, the reception of the protesta- 
tion was sufficient to bring both the pontiff and the council 
into great unpopularity. But, although the danger of 
meddling too much with the secular princes had been abun- 
dantly proved by the retirement of the protesting bishops 
from the council, the pontiff had, on the 22nd of October, 
solemnly proclaimed the queen of Navarre a heretic, and had 
summoned her to appear before him on that charge, under 
penalty of being declared to have escheated her dignities, 
estates, and domains, and of having her marriage declared 
null, and her children bastards. " The cardinal of Lorraine," 
observes the most recent writer on the subject/ " had vainly 
tried to make the pope comprehend that this summons, 
particularly in the terms employed, was only a dangerous 
anachronism. He detested the queen ; but felt also that 

d Brent, p. 789. e Brent, p. 793. 

f Bungener, History of the Council of Trent, p. 499 (Scott's trans- 
lation). 



490 THE HISTORY OF THE 

the pope was about to compel Charles IX. to undertake her 
defence, and that this was not quite the way to put her 
down. Under this form, in fact, her cause was that of all 
crowned heads ; heretic or not, the question was, whether 
she meant to return to her ancient omnipotence over states 
and sovereigns." 

Two days previous to the holding of the twenty-fourth 
session, the king of France wrote to his ambassadors, com- 
mending the spirit with which they had protested against I 
the decree respecting the reformation of princes, and their 
subsequent retirement to Yenice ; and, in a letter to the 
cardinal of Lorraine, he declared " that his ambassadors had f 
protested upon great and just occasion. For as he would 
continue in the union and obedience of the Church, so he 
would preserve inviolable the rights of his crown, without > 
suffering them to be questioned or disputed, or himself forced : 
to show them." But his directions to Henri Clutin, Baron 
d'Oisel, were still more disagreeably explicit. In reference 
to the citation of the queen of Navarre, he bade him tell the i 
pontiff, " that he had understood, with great displeasure, that 
which he did not believe by report, until he had seen a copy | 
of the monitories affixed in Borne, that the queen was so pro- 
ceeded against as that he was bound to defend her. First, in 
regard that the cause and danger were common to all kings, j 
who therefore were obliged to protect her, and the rather be- 
cause she was a widow ; and his own obligation was the greater 
in respect of the near kindred he had with her by both lines, 
and by a greater with her husband, who had died but a little ; 
before in the war against the Protestants, leaving his sons 
orphans. He could not, therefore, abandon her cause, follow- j 
ing the example of his ancestors ; and the rather because he j 
ought not to endure that any should make war against his 
neighbours under colour of religion ; adding, that it was not [ 
pious to put the kingdoms of Spain and France, lately joined i 
in friendship, in danger of a bloody war for this cause." ... 
After further complaints, he proceeded to lay one on the i 
grounds of the inconsistency of the pontiff's conduct, remark- : 
ing, " that so many kings, princes, and cities having departed 
from the Church of Borne within forty years past, he had i 
not proceeded in the same manner with any other ; which j 
showed well that he did it not for the good of the queens I 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



491 



soul, but for other ends." He wished his holiness to consider, 
that power was given to popes for the salvation of souls, not 
to deprive princes of their states, nor to order anything in 
earthly possessions, which, having been formerly attempted 
by them in Germany, did much trouble the public quiet. He 
entreated the pope to revoke all his acts against the queen, 
protesting that, in case he did not, he would proceed to those 
remedies which his predecessors had used. He also com- 
plained of the cause of the bishops, and commanded his am- 
bassador, that, declaring unto him the ancient examples, the 
liberties and immunities of the French church, and the 
authority of the kings in causes ecclesiastical, he should pray 
the pope not to make any innovation." s 

The remonstrance of the Spanish king, supported as it was 
by a press of circumstances against which papal diplomacy 
could avail but little, proved successful, and the display of 
papal fireworks was given up. Indeed, it may perhaps be 
doubted whether the proposed citation of the queen was not 
rather the necessary concomitant of some foregone measures, 
than a new scheme in which the pontiff felt vehemently in- 
terested. At all events, the papal Eliminations against the 
queen of Navarre may be looked upon in the same light as 
those directed against Henry VIII., or those contemplated 
against Queen Elizabeth, — as a mere display of stage bom- 
bast, which, while it assumed a dignity not its own, lost the 
credit which it was its first duty to support. 

CHAPTER LVIII. 

Desire for a Conclusion of the Council. 

I have so often of late adverted to the evident anxiety of 
all parties to see the council brought to a conclusion, that I 
can do little else than detail a few of the proximate events 
which led to, or the means which brought about, that con- 
summation. Much as we must regard the conclusion of this 
council as a hurried proceeding, we cannot help perceiving 
and admiring a degree of energy in its latter proceedings, 
which, had it been applied at an earlier period, might have 
rescued it from much of the charge of incompetency which 

s See the continuation of Visconti's instructions, in Mendham, p. 292. 



492 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



must ever cling to its remembrance. But whilst we admire 
the despatch with which long-pondered questions were now 
dismissed, we are more and more impressed with the fact, 
that hasty conclusions are no conclusions at all; and that in 
the often intemperate, often unfairly obtained, declarations 
of the Council of Trent, we behold the skeleton of an out- 
grown and obsolete monster, which, while we marvel at the 
ingenuity and magnitude of its physical complications, defies 
our speculations as to its utility ; and, while it hangs midway 
between conventional falsehood and revealed truth, makes 
us lament over the ingenuity that could adapt itself to the 
aggrandizement of the Church, at the expense of religion — 
of the temporal to the obliteration of the spiritual; and 
which, while it could forget Christ on but too many occasions, 
never lost sight of his worldly representative, who claimed 
the keys of that heaven which was so often practically denied. 

But although the pontiff was foiled in his attempt to 
assert the presumptuous and unscriptural prerogative, which 
formed one of the main abuses of the papal scheme, he never- 
theless found the king of Spain a valuable adherent, whose 
ambition was fostered, while his pride was occasionally 
wounded, by the conduct of the pontiff. Great as was the 
opposition maintained by his prelates, his support of their 
views was far from consistent ; and the pontiff, however he 
might be vexed by their fierce and daring opposition, still 
felt too secure of his interest with royalty, to dread any 
serious results from conscientious struggles. 

On the evening of the day of the last session, the legates 
despatched a messenger to Paris, informing him of the satis- 
factory conclusion of their long-prorogued labours. His fail- 
ing health and spirits seemed to derive a new impetus from 
this favourable news; and he urged the legates to bring the 
council to an immediate close. Ke at the same time des- 
patched letters of thanks to the cardinal of Lorraine and the 
Count di Luna, for their share in the prosperous termination 
of a matter which had been to him rife with so great anxiety. 

The legates, however, stood but little in need of any 
stimulus to action; for on the 12th of November, the day 
after the session, they had assembled a meeting for this very 
purpose, consisting of Madrucci, Lorraine, and twenty-five 
prelates of various nations. The French cardinal urged the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



493 



necessity of bringing the council to a termination at once r 
chiefly on account of the exigencies of France, alleging that 
that nation had been the chief cause of its convocation ; and, 
after enumerating subsequent, events, he stated that, if the 
present synod were not terminated, the result would be a 
national council, from which all manner of mischief would 
naturally arise. If, therefore, they had any regard for the 
safety of France, they must put a finishing stroke to the 
labours of the council. 11 

Others were of the same opinion, dreading the mischiefs 
which might arise, should the pontiff or the emperor die 
while the council was yet sitting, and likewise perceiving the 
evils which resulted from the absence of the prelates. 1 As 
to the manner of concluding the council, they held that it 
would be sufficient to propose such points as had been left 
undecided respecting the subject of reformation and the 
regulars ; since the remaining doctrines of purgatory, the in- 
vocation of saints, the use of images and indulgences, had 
been sufficiently explained and settled in previous councils, 
it would be sufficient to state these doctrines briefly, and to 
correct any abuses thereupon. " The majority," observes 
M. Bungener, " felt that such an omission would be very 
strange. They refused, but, as we have seen them do before, 
they promised to abandon all the points on which the mem- 
bers should not be immediately agreed, or on which disagree- 
ment might be apprehended." k In a word, all parties looked 
upon the council as a bugbear, that must be smothered out 
of the way as soon as possible ; and those, who felt how much 
reason popery had to be thankful to the doctrine of general 
indistinctness, revelled in the delightful hope of being spared 
the necessity of giving a clear account of what they either 
held or disbelieved. Our own times have witnessed a parlia- 
mentary session sleeping through two-thirds of its time, and 
then hurrying through measures which necessity forced upon 
them, but for which their previous inactivity rendered them 
but doubtfully prepared. With the Council of Trent the fact 

h Paleotto, p. 631. 

1 All the prelates agreed in the necessity of hastening the conclusion 
of the council, except the bishops of Lerida and Leon, who wished first 
to ascertain the opinion of the king of Spain. — Pallav. xxiv. 2, 4. 

k History, p. 501 (Scott's translation). 



494 THE HISTORY OF THE 

was the same, but the reasons were different. They had fore- 
seen the evil, but shrunk from meeting it. They had perceived 
that, once engaged in the attack, their means of resistance 
were but doubtful, and they had sought to strengthen them 
by a cautious delay, while they had never ceased to look out 
for means of defence in all directions. When the Council of 
Trent was inactive, it was inactive not from an unwilling- 
ness to proceed, but from doubts as to the expediency of 
proceeding. It did not forget questions likely to prove 
awkward, but it strove to evade them. Above all, it knew 
how little its own advocates were to be trusted on many 
points; and it preferred leaving open a breach to the attacks 
of an outward enemy, to springing a mine within its own 
walls, and, by mooting points on which Catholics differed, 
leaving room for Protestant conviction to work its way. Yet 
there is an appearance of languor in the last proceedings of 
this council, that seems the characteristic of an imperfect 
work, of a measure which had outgrown its own proportions, 
and which had but half satisfied those who were so vehe- 
mently urgent for its consummation. 

CHAPTER LIX. 

Preliminary Meetings to the Twenty-fifth Session, 

On the 13th of November, five prelates were chosen to 
draw up articles on the remaining matters of doctrine, and 
the results of their labours were laid before a general con- 
gregation on the 15th. So earnest was the attention also 
paid to the fourteen remaining articles of discipline, that by 
the 18th all the fathers had stated their opinions. The two 
most important changes recommended in these latter were, 
that bishops should everywhere take precedence of those in 
the inferior orders; but this was modified upon a suggestion 
of the cardinal of Lorraine as to the inconvenience that 
would result from this, when bishops did not appear in 
pontifical robes. It was also proposed to abolish coadjutor 
bishops ; but the same prelate represented, that by their 
means many monasteries in France were kept in existence, 
and that they seldom gave rise to complaints. He, however, 
recommended that they should not be appointed without 
serious reason, — a measure in which he was supported by 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



495 



seventy-eight prelates, as well as by others who took a more 
modified view. 

Four additional chapters were also proposed, and met with 
approbation. The first of these, at the advice of Fra Bar- 
tolomeo de' Martiri, archbishop of Braga, prescribed the 
method of life which prelates ought to follow, and the man- 
ner of spending their revenues; the second referred to lay 
tithes ; the third regulated the use of excommunication ; 
and the fourth ordered archives to be instituted in each 
church, for the preservation of records. This was at the in- 
stance of the archbishop of Granada. 

Twenty-two chapters of reformation of regulars were like- 
wise proposed, eight of which concern nuns. The votes on 
these subjects only occupied four days, and the illness of the 
pope rendered even the efforts of the Count di Luna to 
retard the progress of the council wholly fruitless. In the 
examination of the present decrees, the fathers were consi- 
derably assisted by the examination which had been made 
during the secession to Bologna. 

On the 2nd of December, the fathers laid before a general 
congregation the result of their investigations regarding 
purgatory, images, relics, the invocation of saints, as well as 
certain matters of discipline. On indulgences, however — the 
original cause of the convocation of the council — no decree 
was forthcoming ! 

And how was this difficulty met or evaded ? The imperial 
party felt annoyed at the absence of a decree on a subject of 
so much importance, and one which had been the main point 
at issue when secession began. But they preferred doing 
without this, to suffering the French prelates to depart be- 
fore the conclusion of the council, which seemed likely to be 
the inevitable consequence of a further protraction. Morone 
briefly endeavoured to impress upon them the necessity of 
haste j he bade them keep God only before their eyes, and 
remember that the synod was free, adding, in the words of 
St. Paul, " I would that those who trouble us were not de- 
stroyed, but converted." 

The decree respecting purgatory passed without opposi- 
tion, although some discussion took place as to the propriety 
of making mention of the place of purgatory, and of the fire, 
as had been done by the Council of Florence, 'f Others said. 



496 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



that this being hard to do, and impossible to find words to 
express it which might give satisfaction to all, it was better 
to say only that the good works of the faithful did help the 
dead for the remission of their sins." The archbishop of Lan- 
ciano observed, that " in handling the mass mention was 
made of sacrifice being offered for those who are deceased 
in Christ, not entirely purged ; by which words the doctrine 
of purgatory was sufficiently defined ; so that nothing re- 
mained to be done but to enjoin the bishops to cause it to 
be preached, and to take away the abuses, taking care also 
that there be no want of prayers for the dead." 1 

It is far from my intention to attempt a fresh refutation 
of doctrines, upon wliich our greatest divines have exhausted 
all that learning and reason can advance ; but we cannot but 
be surprised at the readiness with which all these points of 
doctrine were hurried over, and how confidently Rome 
thought fit to assume what she could not prove. m 

As to the matter of the invocation of saints, the fathers 
speedily agreed ; but as to the worship or reverence due to 
images, there was much more doubt. Lanciano maintained 
that no worship was due unto them, but by relation to the 
thing signified. " But Lainez, the general, who was also one 
of the composers of the decrees, added, that when they were 
dedicated and put in place of adoration, a worship did belong 
unto them, besides the adoration due to the saints wor- 
shipped in them, calling this adoration relative and the other 
abjective. He proved his opinion, because the vessels and 
vestments consecrated deserve a reverence belonging unto 
them, by virtue of the consecration, though they do not re- 
present any saint ; and so an adoration is due to the image 
dedicated by virtue of the dedication, besides the reason of 
the representation. The cardinal of Worms, for the satis- 
faction of both, concluded that the opinion of the archbishop 

1 Sarpi, p. 798, sq., Brent. 

m I need scarcely remind my readers of the apologetic treatise of 
Bossuet, " Exposition de la Doctrine de l'Eglise Catholique sur les 
Matieres de Controversie," in which all these points are briefly and 
neatly handled. The answer to it, by Archbishop Wake, or the oft- 
quoted " View/' by Bishop Marsh, should be read at the same time. 
Much that is useful will also be found in Cox's " Protestantism and 
Popery." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



497 



ought to be expressed, as easier and plainer, but without 
expressions calculated to prejudice the other. 5 ' n 

We may observe, that as the mode and character of the 
worship to be paid to images was left wholly undefined, so 
the practice of Roman Catholics is in this respect remarkably 
inconsistent. It would be as absurd to lay (as is too often 
the fashion) a wholesale charge of idolatry against the mem- 
bers of that church, as it would be to attempt to deny the 
idolatrous tendency of such worship. Excess of symbolism 
becomes a substitute for, not a medium of, the silent and 
earnest devotion by which the soul should best commune 
with its Creator. 

I have so often dwelt upon the effects of a taste for art in 
promoting this exaggerated admiration of religious symbols, 
and upon its liability to paganize Christianity, that it seems 
almost superfluous to say much in the present instance. Yet 
it is painful to reflect, that — setting aside the minute yet 
manifold differences of faith or observance which are found 
among Eoman Catholics on this subject — almost all that the 
early Christian apologists brought to bear against the Pan- 
theon of ancient mythologies, is more or less applicable to 
different features of the Roman ritual. The lover of art 
cannot turn with disgust from the splendid missals, the glo- 
rious illuminations, or even from the quaint and incorrect 
drawings of the Middle Ages. Many may long to behold 
the Popedom at an end : but few would not sigh over the 
ruins of St. Peter's. The religion of Pome is a religion of 
effect, of outward appeal; but the means it employs too 
frequently supersede the end; the Deity is too often for- 

n "The Council of Trent did indeed decline to give a clear decision 
in this matter, and only decreed that due worship should be given to 
images, but did not determine what that due worship was. And though 
it appears by the decree that there were abuses committed among them 
in that matter, yet they only appoint some regulations, concerning such 
| images as were to be suffered, and that others were to be removed ; but 
' they left the divines to fight out the matter concerning the due worship 
1 that ought to be given to images. They were then in haste, and 
intended to offend no party ; and as they would not justify all that had 
been said or done concerning the worship of images, so they would con- 
demn no part of it ; yet they confirmed the Kicene Council, and in 
particular made use of that maxim of theirs, that the honour of the 
tyf^ goes to the prototype, and thus they left it as they found it. So 
that the dispute goes on still as hot as ever." — Burnet, p. 239. 



498 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



gotten in the painter or the sculptor; and the example of 
some saint, whose greatest glory was his humble poverty, is 
forgotten in the brightly-illuminated effigy, which heads the 
tale of his martyrdom. 

The decrees on reformation were settled without much 
discussion, even the obnoxious question of the exemption of 
chapters being suffered to pass unnoticed. It was then pro- 
posed P that the concluding session should be begun on the 
3rd of December, and finished on the 4th, to which all the 
fathers except fourteen assented. 

As the canons and decrees of this session are readily ac- 
cessible, it will be useless to repeat them here; but a few 
observations, calculated to show their tendency to interfere 
with the civil power, deserve to be introduced here. 

In the fifth article of the first decree of reformation, 
magistrates and princes are commanded, under pain of ex- 
communication, to aid bishops in confining within the cloister 
nuns who should attempt to escape. " Now governments," 
observes M. Bungener, * the most disposed, by being Roman 
Catholics, to act in this spirit, have never admitted that the 
Church had the right to require it at their hands." 

Again, observes the same writer, the " fixing sixteen years 
as the minimum age required for the validity of vows, was a 

° Compare the following interesting passage on the motives for the 
introduction of images : — "The Synod of Arras, in 1025, declared, as 
Benedict Biscop had done, that the illiterate contemplated in the linea- 
ments of painting what they, never having learned to read, could not 
discern in writing. An ecclesiastical chronicler of Auxerre supports, in 
an interesting passage, the texts which precede and confirm the religious 
dogma concerning images. It is stated in his " Histoire des Eveques 
d' Auxerre," that under Bishop Geoffrey, son of Hugh, count of Nevers, 
in the time of Henry I., the cathedral of Auxerre was partially destroyed 
by a conflagration. The bishop, in the space of one year, caused it to 
be repaired, the stained glass replaced, and the whole covered with a 
roof of timber and tiles. He commanded the circular wall of the inclo- 
sure, surrounding the altar, to be filled with fresco portraits of the holy 
bishops his predecessors. He desired by this means, not only to divert 
the eye of the officiating priests from the contemplation of all vain and 
profane objects, but, above all, to assist those who were likely to be dis- 
tracted by vanity or weariness, that in the presence of these images, 
and at the recollection of all those pious persons, disinterred as it were 
by painting, the mind of each was recalled, as by a living counsellor, to 
the courage of piety." — Didron's Christian Iconography (Millington), p. 4, 

p Cf. Pallav. xxiv. 4, 12. 



COUNCIL OP TRENT. 



499 



compromise between the custom that prevailed of pro- 
nouncing them much earlier, and the term eighteen, twenty, 
and even thirty years, generally asked by the princes; but 
this regulation, so inadequate in itself, has never been 
seriously observed. Girls destined to the cloister continued 
to enter as children, and their liberty was, in point of fact, 
engaged long before they took the vows. Another enjoined, 
it is true, that before admitting them to the solemn profes- 
sion, the bishop should ascertain that they came to it with 
their full consent ; but what was there to fear from those 
wills so fashioned and impressed ? The council had no need 
to excommunicate whosoever should force a girl to embrace 
the religious life; the field remained, and will ever remain, 
open to indirect compulsion, to skilful circumvention. It was 
said, in fine, that the renunciations and donations of the 
novices in favour of their convents should not be valid till 
after their vows. A very wise regulation; but no more had 
that any effect but to redouble the eagerness of the monas- 
teries to retain those whose patrimony they coveted." 9 

I shall conclude this subject with another equally apposite 
extract from Bishop Marsh. 

" There is a decree of the Council of Trent, in which 6 the 
emperor, kings, dukes, princes,' etc., are specifically named. 
It relates not indeed to heresy ; it relates to duelling ; but 
it is no less an invasion of temporal rights. For, all who 
fight duels, as well as their seconds, are by this decree not only 
excommunicated, but incur the forfeiture of all their goods. 
Now, whatever punishment may be due in such cases, it is 
not the province of an ecclesiastical council to punish by the 
confiscation of private property ; and the very attempt is a 
gross violation of the temporal rights vested in independent 
states, to which alone the subjects of those states are ame- 
nable, and not to any foreign ecclesiastical power. But this is 
not all. For, ' the emperor, kings, dukes, princes,' etc., are 
in the same degree declared ' eo ipso excommunicated,' if 
they suffer duelling in their territories. And moreover, the 
city, castle, or place in which the duel was fought, is with- 
drawn from their jurisdiction. It may be argued, indeed, 
that such a law, made merely by ecclesiastical authority, 

* History of the Council of Trent, p. 535 (Scott's translation). 
i 1 2k2 



500 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



which has not the power of enforcing it, is nothing better 
than a brutum fulmen. But it must be remembered, that 
the Church of Rome commands obedience, not by the sword 
of civil justice, but by the dread of spiritual censures. And 
as long as either kings, or their subjects, have the weakness 
to believe that excommunication from the Church of Rome 
is exclusion from salvation, unless atonement be made, such 
as satisfies the Church, they will be willing slaves of its 
authority. " r 

CHAPTER LX. 

The Twenty -fifth Session. 

On the 3rd of December, the session was oj^ened by mass 
being celebrated by Zambeccaro, bishop of Salmona, and a 
sermon preached by Hieronymo Ragazzone, bishop of Nazian- 
zum. s The decrees of doctrine were then read, and were una- 
nimously approved, except by Marano, bishop of Monte, and 
by the bishop of Guaclix, who made a very natural protest 
against the hurried manner in which they had been prepared 
and passed. The chapters on reformation passed with equal 
freedom from interruption, with the exception of the twen- 
tieth chapter, on secular princes, and the twenty-first, which 
many thought useless and inefficient. 

A decree, proroguing the session till the following day, on 
account of the lateness of the hour, was then read and ap- 
proved, and the meeting broke up with the customary hymn. 
As soon as divine service was concluded, the legates busied 
themselves in preparing a decree on indulgences, as, although. 
Morone objected to touching upon so contentious a subject 
altogether, or, at all events, to treating of it in an incomplete 
and hasty manner, the general voice was urgent in demand- 
ing it. The cardinal of Lorraine observed, that, unless some 
mention were made of indulgences, the error of the heretics 
might be confirmed, and that every omission made an excuse 
for convoking a fresh council. 

The decree was finished that night ; and, at an early hour 

r Marsh, I c. p. 248, sq. 

8 This discourse is appended to my edition of the " Decrees and 
Canons." Its author was an excellent scholar, and seems to have been 
the first who carefully inquired into the chronological arrangement of 
Cicero's epistles, on which he published a commentary. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



501 



the following morning, laid before the ambassadors and 
several prelates. Morone still confessed his dissatisfaction 
at anything being defined on the subject ; but all the others 
seemed unanimous in favour of the decree. " There were, 
however, withdrawn from it some words, which expressly- 
prohibited the paying of any certain sum of money for indul- 
gences, not even when what are called suspensions are given ; 
and these words were withdrawn in favour of the Count cli 
Luna, because they appeared to be industriously selected to 
designate the Spanish cruzada."* 

In consequence of this delay, the session was opened at a 
later hour than usual, and mass having been celebrated by 
Niccolo Maria Caracciolo, bishop of Catanai, business was 
at once proceeded with. 

The decree on indulgences was read first, and after it, the 
decrees touching the choice of meats, and festivals ; on the 
Index Expurgatorius, the catechism, breviary, and missal ; on 
the places to be occupied by ambassadors, and on the recep- 
tion and observation of the decrees passed by the council. 
In this last decree, a few words, intimating the right of 
appeal to a future council, were added at the instance of the 
Spanish ambassador. The decree on indulgences was op- 
posed by about twenty bishops, chiefly Spanish, who remon- 
strated against the clause omitted respecting the cruzada. 
It was then determined, that all the decrees, both on doc- 
trine and reformation, winch had been passed under Paul III. 
and J ulius III., should be read. After this, the fathers were 
asked whether it seemed good that the council should be 
closed, and that the sovereign pontiff should be requested to 
confirm all the decrees passed since the opening of the 
council. All were unanimous in favour of both proposals, 
except the archbishop of Granada, who replied : " It pleases 
me that the synod be terminated, but I ask not a confir- 
mation thereof." Three Spanish bishops, on the contrary, 
exclaimed : " I seek a confirmation, as being necessary." 

Those historians u who were eye-witnesses of the scene, 
dwell with enthusiasm upon the heartfelt delight and tri- 
umph which was displayed by the assembly. But it may 

* Mendham, p. 312, from Paleotto. Cf. Pallav. xxiv. 8, 1. 
u See Mendham, p. 314. 



502 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



be questioned whether the greater portion of this feeling 
was not traceable to the fact of being delivered from a 
bugbear of eighteen years' standing, and whether the fathers 
had not more reason to be thankful for what they had 
escaped from doing, than satisfied with what they had really 
done. 

The acclamations of the fathers, which had been composed 
by the cardinal of Lorraine, upon the model of those used in 
ancient synods, were then given ; and the legates, having for- 
bidden, under pain of excommunication, any of the fathers 
leaving Trent, without first subscribing their assent to the 
decrees of the council, or leaving an authentic statement of 
their approval, the solemn blessing was given, and the 
council broke up. x 

CHAPTEE LXI. 

Reception of the News at Rome. Confirmation of the Council. 

A copy of the decrees was drawn up and authenticated by 
Massarelli, and the notaries of the council, and signed with 
the names of two hundred and fifty-five prelates. >' It was 
also proposed at first to add the signatures of those ambas- 
sadors, who were still present ; since, although the absence of 
the French ambassadors would detract from the value of 
that addition, still, as they were the representatives of their 
respective princes, it would be a kind of guarantee for the 
reception and observance of the decrees in different nations. 
But here the Count di Luna was again the opponent of the 
legates, refusing to sign, unless the clause, "provided his Catholic 
majesty consent," were added. However, two days after, the 
ambassadors, with the exception of the count, unanimously 
tendered their acceptance and subscriptions in distinct docu- 
ments, according to their order of sitting in the council — a 

x Compare Pallav. xxiv. 9, 14, 15. 

y /. e. the four legates, two other cardinals, three patriarchs, twenty- 
five archbishops, 168 bishops, thirty-nine proctors of absent prelates, 
seven abbots, and seven generals of orders. We may observe that the 
abbots of Clairvaux and Clugny approved of the decrees of doctrine 
without reserve or qualification ; but as regards those of reformation, 
they merely expressed their willingness to obey them. After the words 
"I subscribe," all added "defining" (definiendo), except the proctors, 
who, as far as their proctorial office was concerned, had no definitive 
voice in the council.) 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



503 



measure well calculated to prevent any disputes about prece- 
dence. Thus four instruments were drawn up ; one con- 
taining the assent of all the imperial ambassadors, together 
with those of Poland, Savoy, Florence, and Jerusalem ; the 
second, the abbot of Yaudois, as representing the Swiss 
Church ; the third, the Spanish and Yenetian ambassadors ; 
the fourth, the approval of Melchior Lussi, ambassador on 
behalf of the Swiss Catholics. 

The news of the termination of the council did much 
to restore the health of the pontiff, and, as Pallavicino 2 

! quaintly admits, " he could ill have spared that illness, 
which had proved so beneficial to the Church." Not being, 
however, well enough to hold a consistory, he gave orders, in 
a consistorial congregation on the 12th of December, that 
public thanks should be returned to God, and a solemn pro- 
cession made from St. Peter's to the church of Santa Maria 
sopra Minerva, for which he grants ample indulgences. 

Morone and Simonetta reached Pome very shortly; but 
ISTavagero and Osius were so anxious to return to their 
dioceses, that they craved and obtained leave to waive the 
triumphal rejoicings which would have greeted their entrance 
into the Capitol. But with the officers of the court of Pome, 
matters were far different. Pallavicino cavils at Father Paul 
for some minute differences of statement ; but in reality their 
opinions on this subject are identical. a However inefficient 
the council may have been in reaching the offences of great 
sinners — a deficiency, be it remembered, common to most 
legislative movements — it had brought many minor offences 
to light, and threatened to sweep away, or abridge, the pecu- 
lations of many a sinecurist and impostor. It is wholly 
unfair to deny the superiority of the latter sessions of the 
council in this respect ; and we can well imagine that the 
known activity and firmness of Pius IY. left few consolatory 
doubts as to such reforms being carried into execution with 
most disagreeable promptness. 

It is of little use to detail the attempts made to prevent 

I the confirmation of the council, as they proved wholly 
fruitless. Neither political discontent nor querulous cupidity 
could stagger the pontiff in the resolution he had formed ; 

1 xxiv. 9, 1. a See this well argued by Courayer, v. ii. p. 751. 



504 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



and on the 30th of December he appointed Morone and 
Simonetta to enforce the execution of the decrees; com- 
manded all prelates to return to their churches forthwith; 
and the cardinals to resign such bishoprics as they could not 
personally attend to. The decree respecting the establish- 
ment of seminaries he praised as divinely inspired, and de- 
clared his determination to set the first example of carrying 
out so admirable a scheme. To expedite business, he em- 
powered the cardinals Cicala, Vitelli, and Borromeo, to assist 
the legates in devising the best means of confirming the 
council, and carrying out its decrees to the fullest extent.^ 

In a consistory, held on the 26th of January, 1564, after 
speaking of the conduct of the legates and the piety of the 
fathers in the highest terms of praise, the pontiff received the 
formal request for the confirmation of the council. The bull 
of confirmation was accordingly prepared on the same day, 
and signed by all the cardinals then at Rome. A letter of 
Cardinal Borromeo also states that copies of the decrees were 
printed, and sent to the prelates in every province, and that 
the pontiff intended to depute trusty messengers to all the 
princes, exhorting them to practise and enforce their 
observance, while he busied himself with the reformation of 
the B om an court. 

Some controversy had arisen as to the time, after which 
the decrees of the council should come into operation. 
The pontiff therefore issued a bull, declaring, that, although 
the decrees had been observed at Borne from the very first 
period of their promulgation, they should not be held obli- 
gatory until the 1st of May, 1564. One of the reasons of 
this lenity was, the desire to obtain a sufficient number of 
correctly printed copies for distribution throughout Chris- 
tendom. On the 2nd of August, he issued a third bull, 
empowering a congregation of eight cardinals to enforce the 
execution of the decrees. 

b Pallavicino, I. c. § 7, also mentions some good resolutions of the 
pontiff, with regard to the election of fit persons as bishops, but they 
do not seem to have amounted to anything very definite. On the con- 
clusion of the council, the reader may compare v. ii. p. 454, sqq., 
" De la Historia Pontifical y Catholica, compuerta y ordenada por el 
Doctor Goncalo de Illescas." mdlxxvhi. 

c The form of petition and the reply, together with the bull of con- 
firmation, are given at the end of the "Decrees and Canons." 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



505 



CHAPTER LXIL 

The Interpretation of the Decrees forbidden. 

But amidst the progress of Tridentine business there is 
one point which tempts us to digress for a brief interval — 
we mean the following passage in the bull for the confirma- 
tion of the council. 

" We, by apostolical authority, forbid all persons, as well 
ecclesiastics, of what order, condition, and rank soever they 
may be, as laymen, with what honour and power soever 
invested ; prelates to wit, under pain of being interdicted 
from entering the Church, and all others, whosoever they be, 
under pain of excommunication incurred by the fact, that 
they presume, without our authority, to publish, in any form, 
any commentaries, glosses, annotations, scholia, or any kind 
of interpretation soever touching the decrees of the said 
council ; Or to settle anything in regard thereof, under any 
plea soever, even under pretext of greater corroboration of 
the decrees, or the execution thereof, or under any other 
colourable pretext soever." 

So much for the liberty of the council ; now for a little bit 
of papal modesty ! 

" And if anything therein [i e. in these decrees] shall seem 
to any one to have been expressed and ordained obscurely, 
and it shall, on that account, appear to stand in need of an inter- 
pretation or decision, let him go up to the place which the Lord 
hath chosen ; to wit, to the Apostolic See, d the mistress of all 
the faithful, whose authority the holy synod also has so 
reverently acknowledged. For if any cUfficulties and con- 
troversies shall arise touching the said decrees, we reserve 
them to be by us explained and decided, even as the holy 
synod has itself in like manner decreed ; being prepared, as 
that [synod] has justly expressed its confidence in regard of 
us, to provide for the necessities of all the provinces, in such 
manner as shall seem to us most convenient ; decreeing that 
whatsoever may be attempted to the contrary touching these 

d I do not know to whose ingenuity we are indebted for this splendid 
interpretation of Deut. xvii. 8. Its modesty, however, is only equalled 
by its probability. 



506 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



matters, whether wittingly or unwittingly, by any one, by 
what authority soever, is, notwithstanding, null and void." 

If papal innovation ever proceeded to extremes, it was 
on this occasion. After fettering the council with the super- 
vision of legates, who not only proposed the subjects of 
debate, but did so with the immediate knowledge and 
approval of the pontiff — after making a decree explaining 
away that measure with a compliment to the freedom of the 
council — the fathers are forbidden to interpret the decrees 
which, we are taught to believe, they had themselves drawn 
up. Of a truth, this was indeed the last pack laid on the 
camel's back, and it is difficult to say whether the effrontery 
of the pontiff, or the abject prostration of so large an 
assembly, is most worthy of surprise. 

I have already dwelt on the gradual influence acquired by 
the scholastic philosophy over the theology of the Catholic 
Church, and the disputes, occurring at almost every impor- 
tant discussion in this assembly, fully show how greatly the 
study of the schoolmen operated in producing differences, 
even upon essential points of Catholicism, among those whose 
orthodoxy was little questioned even by their opponents. 
Furthermore, we have seen how cautiously many proposed 
decrees and canons were omitted, shortened, or modified, in 
order to meet the contending views, and flatter the incon- 
sistencies, of rival parties in the Church. But who knows to 
what consequences these two-sided enactments might have 
led, if divines had once begun to pamphlet one another on 
this subject i Who will say what awkward revelations might 
not have been made by those who had given a half-faced, half- 
qualified assent in the council, and who might have inundated 
Rome with explanations and manifestoes 1 Might not a few 
high-spirited prelates have again indulged in a few mutual 
anathemas; which, however diverting to the lookers-on, might 
engender a belief that the unity produced by the Tridentine 
code was a fiction ? The pontiff knew well how far to trust 
the synod, and equally well knew how to trade in their 
implicit belief in, and constant references to, himself. The coun- 
cil had given him quite trouble enough ; and he was resolved 
that a paper war should not spoil the small amount of quiet 
which its conclusion had procured. Whilst, therefore, we 
feel surprised at the assumption of the representative of 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



507 



St. Peter, we cannot help feeling, that, if, to this very day, e 
it has prevented the honest Roman Catholic from attempting 
to understand and expound what he is taught to believe, it 
has at the same time spared us many leviathan volumes of 
verbiage and contradiction. 

There is something almost grand in this anticlimax to an 
assembly of eighteen years' duration. There is a stern 
sublimity, an abrupt solemnity of the ridiculous, which 
cannot be laughed at. Let us, for the sake of illustration, 
fancy the sovereign of this country gravely forbidding the 
two houses of Parliament, and the gentlemen of the bench, 
to understand or interpret what they had themselves enacted. 
Let us briefly figure, in our own minds, the exalted opinion 
which our neighbours would form of the efficiency of our 
ministry, and the intelligence of our public. Alas, ! to play 
with puppets is no prerogative of childhood. Great men, 
and popes among their number, have sported with delight 
amidst the gaudy frippery and brittle furniture of an in- 
tellectual doll's-house. Pope Pius IV. consummated the 
analogy. He would have no speaking puppets, save those 
who spoke through his own mouthpiece ; and his example has 
been followed by more recent rulers in Catholic countries. 

CHAPTER LXIIL 

Reception of the Decrees of the Council. 

The details of the reception of the decrees of this council 
belong rather to the history of a subsequent period, than to 
that which is the object of the present work. f I shall there- 

e For example, Dr. Waterworth, my learned predecessor in the 
history and decrees of Trent, says in his preface : " Many notes, and 
especially numerous references to previous councils, had been prepared, 
to elucidate the meaning of the council, but, after much reflection, they 
have been, almost entirely, suppressed, for fear of infringing on a wise 
and extensive prohibition, issued in the bull of confirmation, against 
glosses, and other such attempts at illustrating the decrees of the 
council" (p. vii.). 

f Out of many works and tracts on the subject, I may recommend to 
the perusal of my readers the two following : — " Histoire de la Reception 
du Concile de Trente dans les differens etats Catholiques ; avec les 
pieces justificatives, servant a prouver que les de'crets et reglemens 
ecclesiastiques ne peuvent et ne doivent etre executes sans l'autorite" des 
souverains." By the Abbe Mignot : Amst. mdcclvi. His earlier 



508 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



fore confine myself to a very brief sketch of matters bearing 
on the reception of the decrees just after their enactment, 
merely observing, that the progress of their influence, and 
the various favourable or opposite circumstances under which 
they have gained or lost ground, must be sought for through- 
out the vast mass of ecclesiastical literature, whether doctrinal 
or historical. Scarcely a book has been, or can be written 
on a religious subject, without some reference, more or less 
direct, to the proceedings and decrees of this council. 

As might be expected, the Italian party were foremost in 
demonstrations of their approval. The republic of Venice, 
in particular, ordered the decrees to be solemnly published 
in the church of San Marco, and enjoined their observance 
throughout their whole dominions. The pontiff, according 
to Pallavicino/ was not wanting in showing substantial 
acknowledgment of their obedience, appointing a magni- 
ficent house near the church, built to the memory of the 
same saint by Paul II., as a dwelling for the Venetian 
ambassadors, and eulogizing, in high terms, the fidelity of 
their senate towards the Apostolic See. 

Equally satisfactory to the pontiff was the reception of the 
decrees in Portugal. But the king of Spain caused some 
anxiety ; for, although, on the 2nd of July, he issued a decree, 
commanding the observance of the decrees in the Spanish 
dominions, and on the 17th, in Sicily, and subsequently in 
Planders and Naples, he was evidently dissatisfied with the 
conduct of the pontiff, and appears to have, at all events in 
the first instance, 11 enforced obedience to these decrees in his 
own name, and without any reference to the pontiff. But 
the doubts of Pius were soon consoled by a change of conduct ; 
and the beneficial influence of the Spanish and Portuguese 
princes was felt in the reception of the council in their 
dependent provinces in America, the Indies, and Africa, as 
far as they were adapted to the natural requisitions of those 
churches. 

materials are chiefly drawn from Sarpi. The other work, which chiefly 
concerns its reception in France, is by Courayer, at the end of his 
translation of Father Paul. e xxiv. 11. 

See the passage of Du Thou quoted by Courayer, p. 759, n. 79. 
Prom Pallavicino, xxix. 12, it seems that whatever opposition the king 
ma y have offered in the first instance, he smothered his resentment, and 
even apologized for the withdrawal of his ambassador from the assembly. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



509 



With regard to Germany, the emperor and his son 
Maximilian expressed their willingness to receive the council, 
if the pope would permit the use of the chalice, and the 
marriage of priests. To the latter demand Pius gave a firm 
refusal ; but permitted certain bishops to administer the 
communion under both kinds, but under certain restrictions. 
It is, however, obvious that there was then as little chance 
as there is in the present day for the reception of the decrees 
of this council in a country where Protestantism had taken 
such firm root. 

With the French nation matters were different ; but it is 
sufficient to observe, that while the decrees respecting dis- 
cipline have seldom been enforced either by civil or eccle- 
siastical authorities, the doctrines have been maintained with 
a consistency greater than might be expected from the 
variable character of that people. 1 

CHAPTEE LXIY. 

Further Remarks on the alleged Freedom of the Council. Position of 
England in relation thereunto. Letter of Bishop Jewell. 

After what I have said on the subject of the bull for- 
bidding the interpretation of the decrees and canons, it 
seems almost superfluous to discuss the oft-mooted question 
of the freedom of the assembly, more especially as I have 
taken ample care to point out the subjection of the council 
to the legates, and, through them, to the pontiff. The 
following observations of Father Paul, although partly 
impugned by Pallavicino, give us some insight into the views 
which people entertained on that subject even at the con- 
clusion of the council. 

" The consistorial act of confirmation, and the bull, were 
printed together with the decrees, which gave matter of 
speech, it appearing by the tenor of them that the decrees 
had not vigour as constituted by the council, but as confirmed 
by the pope. Whereupon it was said that one had heard the 
cause, and another had given the sentence. Neither could it 
be said that the pope had seen the decrees before he confirmed 
them ; because it did appear by the consistorial act that he 

1 This point is well urged by Waterworth, p. ccxlv. sq. But Cou- 
rayer's tract on the subject well deserves the reader's attention. 



510 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



had only seen the decree for desiring the confirmation. They 
said also, that the decrees made under Paul and J ulius were 
read in Trent, and that it was fit they should be confirmed 
by those that heard them, rather than by him that did not 
know them. But others avowed that there was no need 
that the pope should then see them, because nothing was 
done in Trent which was not first resolved by him. In many 
consistories following, the pope spoke for the observation of 
the decrees of the council, saying he would observe them him- 
self, although he was not bound, and gave his word that he 
would never derogate from them but for evident and urgent 
causes, and with consent of the cardinals. He charged 
Morone and Simonetta to be diligent in advertising him, if 
anything contrary were proposed, or handled in the consistory, 
which was but a small remedy against the transgressions ; 
because not a hundredth part of the grants made in Rome 
are despatched in consistory. He sent the bishops to their 
residence, and resolved to make use of the protonotaries and 
referendaries in governing the city of Rome and this eccle- 
siastical state." k 

There is, however, a point in which we are more im- 
mediately interested, namely, the position of the English 
nation in reference to this council. It cannot be denied, 
that Roman Catholics had little reason to thank Henry VIII. 
or Elizabeth for the part they took ; nor is it easy to acquit 
either of these princes of the charges of persecution brought 
against them, especially when the brutal inconsistencies 1 of 
the former are taken into consideration. But the truth is, 
that the influence of the Council of Trent upon this country 
was, at the time of its conclusion, nullified by the defiance 
shown to the papal authority by our monarch. 

k Brent, p. 818. 

1 " Henry VIII. was so far from being a friend or favourer of the 
Protestants, that he was a most bitter persecutor of them — (after this, 
the pope himself, though he was not well pleased to lose so sweet a 
morsel as England was, so well approved of Henry VIII. 's rigorous 
proceedings against the Protestants, that he proposed him to the 
emperor as a pattern for his imitation) ■ — insomuch as some strangers 
in those days coming into England have admired to see one suffer for 
denying the pope's supremacy, and another for being a Protestant, at 
the same time ; so, though they looked divers ways, yet, like Samson's 
foxes, each had his firebrand at his tail." — Arch. Bramhall, v. i. p. 117. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



511 



No council convoked by the pope could be attended by a 
country which had determined to legislate for itself in matters 
of religion, and which treated the very head of that council 
with derision. Almost from the very first convocation of the 
council, England seems to have been too much for the Roman 
pontiff, and such measures of aggression as were agitated 
against the religious liberty which she had vindicated to her- 
self soon fell to the ground. 

But in her resistence to the council, and in the determi- 
nation of her prelates to absent themselves from its assemblies, 
England only copied the example of other continental states. 
Nor was our insular position without its influence in pre- 
venting communication with the Tridentine meetings. Even 
had those in power been willing to sanction their visits, 
prelates would have been unable and unwilling to leave their 
dioceses for an indefinite period, especially when their minds 
were by no means satisfied as to their personal safety in so 
doing. 

A letter of Bishop J ewell, appended to most of the English 
translations of Father Paul, contains some curious remarks 
on the council ; some of which, as showing the doubts enter- 
tained as to the (ecumenicity of the assembly, deserve a 
place in this chapter. It is described as " a letter written by 
John Jewell, bishop of Sarum, unto one Signor Scipio, a 
gentleman in Venice, in answer of an expostulatory letter of 
his concerning the Council of Trent." 

After some general remarks on the charge of schism made 
in the letter to which he his replying, he observes : " We 
wonder, say you, that no ambassadors from England come to 
the council. I pray you, sir, do Englishmen only not come 
to this council 1 Were you yourself present at the council ? 
Did you take a muster of them ? Did you count them by 
the poll ? Did you see that all other nations were met from 
all parts, except only the English 1 If you have such a 
mind to wonder, why do you not wonder at this too, that 
neither the venerable patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, 
and Alexandria, nor Presbyter John, nor the Grecians, 
Armenians, Persians, Egyptians, Moors, Ethiopians, or Indians 
come to the council ? For do not many of these people be- 
lieve in Christ 1 Have they not bishops 1 Are they not 
baptized in the name of Christ 1 Be they not Christians and 



512 THE HISTORY OF THE 

so called i Or did there come ambassadors from all tliese 
nations to the council ? Or will you rather say that the pope 
did not call them, or that your ecclesiastical decrees take no 
hold of them 1 

" But we wonder more at this, that the pope would after- 
wards call such men to a council, whom beforehand he had 
condemned for heretics, and openly pronounced them ex- 
communicated, without hearing either them or their pleas. 
For that men should be first condemned and punished, and 
afterwards brought to their trial, is absurd, and as we say, 
6 the cart before the horse.' But I would fain be resolved of 
this, whether the pope's meaning be to advise in the council 
concerning religion with us, whom he accounts heretics, or 
rather that we should plead our cause at the bar, and either 
change our opinions presently, or out of hand be condemned 
again. The former is without example, and denied heretofore 
by J ulius III. to those of our side ; the other is ridiculous, 
if he thinks so, that the English will come to the council, 
only to be indicted, and to plead for themselves, especially 
before him, who long since is charged with most heinous 
crimes, not only by our side, but also by their [his ?] own. 

" 2sTow, if England only seem to you thus stubborn, where 
then be the ambassadors of the king of Denmark, of the 
princes of Germany, of the king of Sweden, of the Switzers, 
of the Grisons, of the Hans Towns, of the realm of Scotland, 
of the dukedom of Prussia ? Seeing so many Christian na- 
tions are wanting in your council, it is absurd to miss in 
your reckoning only the English. But why do I speak of 
these 1 The pope himself comes not to his own council ; and 
why do you not wonder at that also ? For what a pride is 
this for one man for his own pleasure to assemble together 
all Christian kings, princes, and bishops, when he listeth, 
and to require them to be at his call, and himself not to 
come in their presence ! " 

After inveighing against the failures and inconsistencies 
of previous councils, he proceeds as follows: — "And why 
should we hope for better success at this present 1 With 
what expectation or hope can any one come to the council ? 
Do but think with yourself what manner of men they be, 
upon whose fidelity, learning, and judgment the weight of 
this whole council, the discussing of all questions, and the 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



513 



whole state of all things must lie and rest. They are called 
abbots and bishops, grave persons and fair titles, men (as it 
is believed) of great importance for the government of the 
Church of God. But take from these men their titles, the 
persons they bear, and their trappings, there will nothing 
that belongeth to an abbot or a bishop remain in them. For 
they are not ministers of Christ, dispensers of the mysteries 
of God ; they apply not themselves to reading, or to preach- 
ing the gospel ; they feed not the flock, they till not the 
ground, they plant not the Lord's vineyard, nor kindle the 
fire, nor bear the ark of the Lord, nor are the ambassadors 
of Christ ; they watch not, nor do the work of an evangelist, 
nor perform the duty of their ministry : they entangle them- 
selves with secular business ; they hide the Lord's treasure, 
they take away the keys of the kingdom of God;' they go 
not in themselves, nor suffer others; they beat their fellow- 
servants, they feed themselves and not the flock ; they sleep, 
snort, feast, and riot ; they are clouds without water, stars 
without light, dumb dogs, slow bellies, as Bernard saith, not 
prelates, but helotes; not doctors, but seducers; not pastors, 
but impostors. The servants of Christ (saith he) serve Anti- 
christ. The popes will allow none but these to have place 
and suffrage in the council : the care and charge of Christ's 
Catholic Church must depend upon their power and judg- 
ment ; upon none but such as these doth Pope Pius rely. 
But (good God!) what manner of persons are they? They 
hold it ridiculous to ask that question. It is no matter (say 
they) how learned or how religious they be, what their aim 
is or what they think. If they can sit upon a mule; if they 
can ride through the streets with pomp and with a noise; if 
they can come into the council and say nothing, it is suffi- 
cient. If you believe me not, and think that I speak in jest, 
hear what the Faculty of Divinity and the whole Sorbonne have 
determined concerning this matter. That which our great 
masters affirm (say they) concerning the due assembling of a 
council, is to be understood thus : that for the lawful calling 
of a council it is sufficient that the form of law be solemnly 
observed. For if it should be disputed whether the prelates 
there assembled have a good intention ; whether they be 
learned, especially in the Scriptures, and are willing to obey 
wholesome doctrine, it would prove an infinite business. 

2 L 



514 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



Those, forsooth, who sit mute, like the statues of Mercury, 
not knowing what belongs to religion, will determine well 
concerning all points of religion, and, whatsoever they say, 
they cannot possibly err. 

" These are obliged to the pope, not through error and 
ignorance, but by oath and religion; so that, although they 
should understand the truth, they cannot without perjury 
make profession of it, and are necessitated to break faith 
either with God or man. For this is the formal oath which 
they all take. m .... The popes have dealt . . wisely ; for 
they have chosen such judges, whom they know neither will 
(because it is their own case, in regard they refer all to 
voluptuousness and gluttony) nor can, if they would (because 
they are sworn) decree anything contrary to his will and 
pleasure. They set the Holy Bible in the midst, as if they 
would do nothing against it ; they look upon it afar off, and 
read it not. Indeed, they have a prejudicated opinion with 
them, not regarding what Christ hath said, but decreeing 
whatsoever they please. 

" Therefore that liberty which ought to be in all consulta- 
tions, especially sacred, and which is most proper to the Holy 
Ghost, and the modesty of Christians, is quite taken away. 
Paul saith, If anything be revealed to another that sitteth 
by, let the first hold his peace; but these men apprehend, 
imprison, and burn whosoever dareth but whisper against 
them. Witness hereof the cruel death of two most holy and 
resolute men — John Huss and Hierom of Prague, whom 
they put to death contrary to their safe-conduct, 11 and so 

brake their faith both with God and man Therefore 

these men alone domineer in councils, all others being ex- 
cluded. They alone give voices and make laws, like unto 
the Ephesians in times past : Let no man (say they) live here 

m The well-known oath of fidelity to the pontiff will be found, in a 
milder form than as here exhibited by Bishop J ewell, in the creed of 
Pope Pius rV\, which I shall give shortly. 

n " But Bossi has sufficiently shown, that although Huss was dragged 
to execution in defiance of an imperial safe-conduct, his death gave rise 
to a dreadful civil war, in which his followers, to the number of 40,000, 
spread slaughter and devastation throughout all Bohemia. ' It cannot, 
therefore,' adds Bossi, 'be correctly said by the Eoman theologians that 
the efforts of Huss were defeated by the vigilance of the Council of 
Constance."— Roscoe, Leo the Tenth, v. ii. n. 158. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



•515 



who is wiser than the rest, except he have a mind to be cast 
into banishment. They will not hear any of our men speak. 
In the last convention of the Council of Trent, ten years 
since, the ambassadors of the princes and free cities of Ger- 
many came hither with a purpose to be heard, but were ab- 
solutely refused. For the bishops and abbots answered, that 
they would not suffer their cause to have a free hearing, nor 
suffer controversies to be discussed out of the Word of God ; 
that our men were not to be heard at all except they would 
recant, which if they refused to do, they should come into 
the council upon no other conditions but to hear the sen- 
tence of condemnation pronounced against them. For Ju- 
lius III., in his bull of indiction of the council, declared 
plainly that either they should change their opinions, or else 
should be condemned for heretics before they were heard. 
Pius IV., who hath now a purpose to reassemble the council, 
hath already prejudged for heretics all those who have left 
the Roman Church, that is to say, the greatest part of the 
Christian world, before they were ever either seen or heard. 
They say, and they say it often, that already all is well with 
them, and that they will not alter one jot of their doctrine 
or religion. Albertus Pighius saith, that without the autho- 
rity of the Roman Church one ought not to believe the 
clearest and plainest Scripture. Is this to restore the Church 
to her integrity'? Is this to seek the truth 1 Is this the 
liberty and moderation of councils?" 

CHAPTER LXV. 

Charge of Ignorance against the Members of the Council untenable. 
Remarks of Ranke on the General Bearing of the Council. Its Ineffi- 
ciency in Restraining Papal Encroachments. 

I have brought forward the preceding passages of Bishop 
Jewell, not as exhibiting my own views of the character of 
the prelates assembled, but as an evidence of the jealousy 
with which previous experience caused it to be regarded in 
this country. In reading the too vehement language of the 
bishop, we must bear in mind that the Roman Catholic 
clergy in this country were, with but few exceptions, any- 
thing but favourable specimens of the profession, and that 
men would be naturally apt to form their estimate of the 

2 l2 



516 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



assembly from their unpleasant experience of certain of its 
members. 

But the charge of ignorance brought by the worthy bishop 
against the members of the assembly can scarcely be justified 
even on these grounds. There was, even in his time, sufficient 
reason to thank the taste and spirit of the Medicis for snatch- 
ing the great and good things of antiquity from the gloom of 
neglect and decay. Whilst our libraries were gradually being 
filled with the reprints of works, many of which we owed to 
their zeal alone, and which were to be the future means of 
ripening our thoughts and increasing our powers of expres- 
sion — the charge of ignorance will not hold good against the 
conclave that surrounded Leo X. 

It has, however, been remarked that the tastes of Leo 
were not of a theological character; and this fact, saving 
certain conspicuous exceptions, must have tended to depre- 
ciate the standard of divinity among the higher class of 
clergy, while the ignorance and incompetency of the inferior 
orders was scarcely questioned. But, even in the time of 
Leo, it was not of such men that the council was composed. 
In every session, first and last, we meet with the names of 
men, few of whom have not held their sway over the intel- 
lectual and moral world. Men skilled in the severe and 
liberal arts — stern schoolmen, and many who in leisure hours 
could unbend to the graces of poetry — scholars who rivalled 
the Latinity of Cicero, and disputants who imitated the dry- 
ness of an Aquinas — rough and daring speakers pitted against 
courtly and eloquent men of the world ; such were but a few 
of the manifold elements in this vast assemblage. 

Again, great as were the errors of the scholastic theology, 
the reformed churches grounded theirs upon the same stem. 
In fact, the difference between the reception of the scholastic 
system by Catholics and Protestants, seems to be in extent 
only. Whilst the former clung doggedly to the whole sys- 
tem of the schoolmen, and felt it their duty to shape their 
creed to meet its inconsistencies, the Reformers contented 
themselves with retaining such phraseology as could not 
readily be supplied by a better. At the same time they 
looked with a jealous eye upon matters merely scholastic; 
although we find, even in the Articles of our Church, a large 
number of expressions which were employed with a specific 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



517 



reference; and in which the language was of necessity bor- 
rowed from that of the opponents they were intended to 
refute. This fact is too often overlooked by dissenters, when 
they charge the Church of England with imitating the lan- 
guage of Popery. 

I will now return, once more, to a critic of more enlarged 
views, and one whose modern experience of the state of the 
world, since the council, makes him a fit judge how far it has 
contributed to the intellectual and religious emancipation of 
mankind, — I mean Ranke. It will be interesting to compare 
the different details of thought, by which two men, differing 
widely both in the views they took, and in the times and 
circumstances under which they formed those views, yet 
arrived at the same conclusion. 

" The Council of Trent must ever be regarded as 'the most 
important, if not of all councils, yet assuredly of those of 
more modern ages. 

" Its importance is compressed into two great crises. 
" In the first, which we touched on in a former place, 
during the war of Smalcalde, the doctrines of Rome after 
many fluctuations broke for ever with the Protestant opi- 
nions. Out of the doctrine of justification, as then set forth, 
arose forthwith the whole system of dogmatic theology, such 
as it is professed to the present day in the Catholic Church. 

" In the second of those crises and the last we considered, 
after Morone's conference with the emperor, in the summer 
and autumn of the year 1563, the hierarchy was established 
anew, theoretically by the decrees respecting clerical ordi- 
nation, and practically by the resolutions touching measures 
of reform. 

" These reforms are, to the present day, of the greatest 
moment. 

" The faithful were again subjected to the uncompromising 
discipline of the Church, and in urgent cases to the sword of 
excommunication. Seminaries were founded, where young 
ecclesiastics were carefully brought up under strict discipline 
and in the fear of God. The parishes were regulated anew, 
the administration of the sacraments and preaching subjected 
to fixed ordinances, and the corporation of the regular clergy 
subjected to determined laws. The bishops were held rigidly 
| to the duties of their office, especially to the superintendence 



518 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



of the clergy, according to their various grades of consecra- 
tion. It was a regulation attended with weighty results, 
that the bishops solemnly bound themselves by a special 
confession of faith, signed and sworn to by them, to an ob- 
servance of the decrees of the Council of Trent, and to sub- 
missiveness to the pope. 

u But the purpose undoubtedly entertained at first in this 
convocation, of limiting the power of the pope, was not ful- 
filled : on the contrary, that power issued from the struggle 
even augmented in extent and cogency. As the exclusive 
right of interpreting the decrees of the Council of Trent was 
reserved to the pope, it was always in his power to prescribe 
rules for faith and conduct. All the cords of the restored 
discipline centred in Rome. 

" The Catholic Church owned the circumscription of its 
dominion ; it gave up all claims upon the Greeks and the 
East, and Protestantism it repudiated with countless ana- 
themas. In the earlier Catholicism there was involved an 
element of Protestantism ; this was now for ever cast out. 
But Catholicism, in thus limiting the field of its operations, 
concentrated its strength, and braced up all its energies. 

" It was only, as we have seen, by means of a good under- 
standing and agreement with the foremost Catholic princes 
that so much was achieved ; and in this alliance with mo- 
narchy lies one of the main conditions of all Catholicism's 
subsequent development. This is in some degree analogous 
to the tendency of Protestantism to combine episcopal with 
sovereign rights. It was only by degrees it exhibited itself 
among the Catholics. It is obvious that it involves a possi- 
bility of new divisions; but of this there was, in the times 
we are speaking of, no immediate danger. The decrees of 
the cardinal were promptly received in province after pro- 
vince. The claims of Pius IY. to importance in the world's 
history rest on his having effected this event ; he was the 
first pope who deliberately abandoned the tendency of the 
hierarchy to set itself in opposition to the authority of sove- 
reigns." 

Eanke, p. 89, sq. 



COUNCIL OP TRENT. 



519 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

Creed of Pope Pius IV. 

In December, 1564, Pius IV. published a brief summary of 
the doctrines ratified by the council. This document " was 
immediately received throughout the universal Church ; and 
since that time has ever been considered, in every part of 
the world, as an accurate and explicit summary of the 
Roman Catholic faith. Non-Catholics, on their admission 
into the Catholic Church, publicly repeat and testify their 
assent to it, without restriction or qualification. P 

Such is the language of a Roman Catholic writer of the 
present day, and it is amply sufficient to show that the faith 
promulgated at this council is as binding on the, Catholic 
conscience as ever. It would be impossible* to dismiss the 
subject without furnishing a translation of this " Creed of 
Pope Pius IV." ^ 

" I most firmly admit and embrace the apostolical and 
ecclesiastical traditions, and all other observances and con- 
stitutions of the same Church. 

" I also admit the sacred Scripture according to that sense 
which holy mother Church, to whom it appertains to judge 
concerning the true meaning and interpretation of the sacred 
Scripture, hath holden and doth still hold : nor will I ever 
receive and interpret them, otherwise than according to the 
unanimous consent of the fathers. 

" I profess, likewise, that there are truly and properly 
seven sacraments of the new law, instituted by our Lord 
Jesus Christ, and necessary unto the salvation of the human 
kind, though not all of them to every one \ namely, baptism, 
confirmation, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, order, 
and matrimony ; and that they confer grace ; and that of 
these sacraments, baptism, confirmation, and order, cannot 
be repeated without sacrilege. 

" I receive also and admit the received and approved rites 
of the Catholic Church, in the solemn administration of all 
the aforesaid sacraments. 

p Butler's Book of the Roman Catholic Church, p. 5. See othei 
Romanist authorities in Mendham, pref. p. xxiii. 

i I omit the first part, common to the Apostles' Creed. 



520 



THE HISTORY OF THE 



" I embrace and receive all things, and every thing, which 
have been denned and declared by the holy Council of Trent, 
concerning original sin and justification. 

" In like manner, I profess that in the mass is offered 
unto Gocl a true, proper, and propitiatory sacrifice for the 
living and the dead ; and that in the most holy sacrament of 
the eucharist there is really, truly, and substantially, the 
body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our 
Lord J esus Christ ; and that a conversion is made of the 
whole substance of the bread into his body, and of the whole 
substance of the wine into his blood ; which conversion the 
Catholic Church calls transubstantiation. 

" I confess also, that under one kind only is received the 
whole and entire Christ, and the true sacrament. 

" I strenuously maintain, that there is a purgatory, and 
that the souls detained there are assisted by the prayers of 
the faithful. 

" Likewise, that the saints, who reign together with 
Christ, are to be venerated and invoked ; and that they offer 
prayers for us to God ; and that their relics are to be vene- 
rated. 

" I most firmly assert, that the images of Christ and of 
the ever virgin mother of God, as also of the other saints, 
are to be had and retained ; and that due honour and vene- 
ration are to be shown to them. 

" I affirm also, that the power of indulgences was left by 
Christ in his Church; and that the use of them is very 
salutary to Christian people. 

" I acknowledge the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church 
of Borne to be the mother and mistress of all churches : and 
I promise and swear true obedience to the Roman pontiff 
successor of the prince of the apostles St. Peter, and the 
Vicegerent of Jesus Christ. 

" Further I do, without doubt, receive and profess all 
things which have been delivered, defined, and declared by 
the sacred canons, and oecumenical councils, especially by 
the sacred and holy Council of Trent ; and all things con- 
trary thereunto, and all heresies of whatsoever kind, which 
have been condemned, rejected, and anathematized by the 
Church, I in like manner condemn, reject, and anathematize, 

" This true Catholic faith, out of which none can be saved, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



521 



which by these presents I profess and verily hold, I, 1ST. ET. 
do promise, vow, and swear (by God's help), entire and inviolate 
to the last breath of my life ; and that I will take care, as 
far as in me lies, that the same be holden, kept, and preached 
by all who are subject to my control, or who are connected 
with my charge. 

" So help me God, and these holy gospels of God." 

And such is the supplementary faith which Eome ha& 
bequeathed to her disciples. But by what steps she arrived 
at those conclusions, the reader is by this time enabled to 
perceive. Recent events have shown that she has remitted 
nought of her wonted energy; while the falling away of too- 
many learned and once faithful members of our own Church, 
bears sad witness to the strength of her influence. We have 
a deep and solemn lesson to learn from the history of a council 
like the one whose history we have just attempted to por- 
tray. Its manifold disputes and hair-splittings should teach 
us to avoid the use of words, which, by a convenient 
ambiguity, may be interpreted by one party or another 
according their own views. The current danger of the 
Church is the taste for adapting Popery to popular use ; and 
it is to be feared, that many recent secessions are attributable 
solely to the mistaken teaching of those, who are themselves 
as remote from Romanism as from dissent. A habit of 
accustoming people to Roman Catholic language and prac- 
tices, however they may claim admiration on the score of 
intrinsic excellence or outward impressiveness, has already 
led to evils which must henceforth be looked upon with 
increased suspicion, and which, if it be not abandoned, may 
ultimately inflict a still deeper and a more lasting wound 
upon the fair body of our Church of England. 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY 

OF THE 

HISTORY OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT; 



In the year 1516, Tetzel appeared in Germany, either as 
a direct emissary of Leo X. or as the agent of the papal 
delegate Albert of Brandenburg, in order to recruit the 
papal coffers by the sale of indulgences. 

In 1517, his proceedings had become so offensive, that 
Martin Luther, whose mind had been in an unsettled state as 
to the Church, beholding its abuses, began to cry out against 
it. Hence, on July, 1517, he addressed letters to the bishops 
of Meissen, Feitz, Merseburg, and Brandenburg, in which 
he entreated them to abolish, or, at least, modify the evil. 
Receiving, however, no answer, he felt himself bound, as a 
teacher in a considerable university, to bear witness against 
the abuse. On the 31st of October, he therefore wrote to 
the archbishop of Mainz, and also posted his ninety-five 
propositions against the church-doors. In the evening he 
preached a sermon, in which he explained these propositions. 
By some, he is stated to have sent copies of the same to the 
bishops whom he had addressed in July, and Brandenburg 
alone replied, and even then in an unbecoming manner. By 
the 14th of November the questions had become known 
throughout the whole of Germany. About this time Tetzel 
replied to the propositions of Luther; but the students at 
Wittemberg burnt it in the market-place without the know- 
ledge of Luther. In the course of December, Sylvestro di 

a In the translation of this useful summary, which is condensed from the 
erudite "Geschichte des Tridentinisches Conciliums" of Salig, vol. iii., 
I have been greatly assisted by my young and talented friend Ken- 
neth R. H. Mackenzie, Esq. I have, however, altered the chronology 
to render it consistent with my own. 



524 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



Prierio replies to Luther's animadversions, and dedicates his 
work to the pope. 

1518. April 28. Luther arrives in Heidelberg at the 
general assembly of his order, where he proposes twenty- 
eight propositions of theology and twelve of philosophy for 
disputation. 

May 30. He writes to the pope, and incloses his ninety- 
five propositions ; upon this the pope is advised to pursue 
Luther with fire and sword. In July, Cardinal Caietan 
comes to Augsburg, under pretence of seeking aid against 
the Turks, but in reality to quash Luther, and reinstate the 
system of indulgences. 

Aug. 7. An inquisition is held at Rome regarding Luther, 
the fiscal of which is Prierio ; and the result is, that Luther is 
commanded to appear at Rome within sixty days. To gain 
time, he entreats for a safe-conduct ; which he knew he should 
not obtain; and according to his expectation it is refused 
him. — 23. The pope does not await the arrival of Luther 
within the sixty days, but sends fresh commands to Caietan 
to seize " the heretic" Luther, and to retain him in prison 
at the papal pleasure. Leo also writes to the elector of 
Saxony. 

Sept. Luther, unappalled by all these fulminations, travels 
to Augsburg, and announces himself to the cardinal ; he 
first, however, receives an imperial safe-conduct. 

Oct. 12. Luther has an audience of Caietan, where he 
acts with great humility. On the 13th, he again visits him, 
Staupitz being present. Caietan endeavours to induce him 
to recall his remarks ; but on his exhortations proving ineffec- 
tual, refuses to see him again, except for such a purpose. — 
17. Luther leaves Augsburg, and sends a letter to Caietan, 
in which he states his inability to recant his doctrines. 

Nov. Caietan, who had been hurt by the epistle and ap- 
pellation of Luther, addresses a letter in very strong terms to 
the elector of Saxony. This Luther answers, and the reply is 
sent to the cardinal at Augsburg. — 9. A bull is prepared 
confirming the sale of indulgences, but no intelligence is 
given to Luther of the matter.— 28. Luther demands a 
general council, and places the pope's authority under that 
of a council. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



525 



Dec. 13. The bull regarding indulgences is circulated by 
Caietan ; but, as Tetzel remarks in a letter to Miltitz, dated 
Dec. 31, the sale of indulgences is checked in Germany. 

1519. Jan. 12. Emperor Maximilian dies, and the pope- 
dom loses much of its influence by the accession of the elector 
of Saxony. Miltitz is thereupon sent to the elector to present 
him with the holy rose. He obtains a promise of silence 
from Luther. Miltitz proceeds to Leipsic, and censures 
Tetzel heavily. Luther keeps his word and writes nothing 
against the popedom ; but his enemy, Eck, begins to dispute 
again. 

June. This step leads to the meeting at Leipsic of Eck, 
Carlstadt, and Luther, who had Melancthon on his side. 
The first meeting was between Eck and Carlstadt on the 27th. 

July 4. Disputation between Eck and Luther. These 
meetings go on until the 1 6th of July. 

Aug. The disputes raise up a commotion among the Hus- 
sites, to whom Luther addresses a letter. The pope pub- 
lishes the response of four universities. 

Sept. 25. Miltitz offers the holy rose to the elector, who 
will not accept it. 

Oct. 8. Luther again holds a conference with Miltitz at 
Siebenwerda. 

Dec. 11. Speaks with the elector, who has no longer any 
confidence in Miltitz by reason of the inconsistency of his 
actions. Luther publishes a sermon on the holy sacraments, 
in which he desires that the cup should be restored to laymen. 
— 27. At which Duke George is offended. 

1520. Jan. Luther's position becomes more equivocal. 
On the 15th he wrote to the new emperor, and explained 
the miserable state in which he was. — 17. He gives a pro- 
test to the diet, and particularly to the archbishop of Mainz. 
On the 24th the bishop of Meissen publishes a decree against 
the sermon of Luther on the sacraments. Eck goes to Rome 
and places Luther's affairs in the most unfavourable light. 
Luther, however, continues to publish many excellent trea- 
tises, and particularly concerning the epistle to the Galatians. 

June 15. Eck obtains a bull of excommunication against 
Luther, which many cardinals, prelates, and canons con- 
jointly composed. 



526 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



Aug. A meeting of the Augustine order is held at 
Eisleben, where Staupitz is present, and they determine to 
send deputies to Luther. 

Sept. 6. Luther writes a very humble letter to the pope, 
inclosing a treatise on Christian liberty. On the 21st the 
bull arrives from Rome, and is published in Meissen on the 
21st Sept., in Merseburg on the 28th, and in Brandenburg 
on the 29th. 

Oct. Eck's life in danger at Leipsic. — 12. Miltitz proposes 
a conference with Luther at Lichtenburg. — 19. Carlstadt's 
call for a general council is completed. 

Nov. 17. The papal bull causes much disquiet. Luther 
demands a general council ; but as all hope of any accommo- 
dation was lost, it subsequently led to the burning of the 
bulls and decretals. — 28. The emperor fixes the day for a 
diet to be held in Worms, to which Luther is invited. 

Dec. 17. The emperor learning that Luther is under ban, 
writes to the elector, that he may not bring him to Worms. 
Luther receives letters from many places, informing him of 
what blessed result his doctrines had brought about, and he, 
together with Carlstadt, again demands a council. 

1521. Jan. Another bull against Luther arrives, in 
which all who have countenanced him are laid under an 
interdict. The elector arrives at Worms, and the imperial 
confessor Glapion attempts by many wiles to win him over 
to their party. — 25. Luther is sounded by the elector as to 
whether he would really come to Worms if he were sent for; 
upon which Luther is all courage and enthusiasm. 

March 6. Luther receives an imperial citation to appear 
at Worms within twenty-one days. Luther's name inscribed in 
the Bulla cceno3 Domini, and himself cursed as an arch-heretic. 

April 15. The papal nuncio will not admit or receive Luther 
at Worms, but insists on the burning and forbidding of his 
books ; for which he obtains an imperial mandate. — 1 6. Lu- 
ther enters Worms. — 17. Appears before the diet. — 18. Ap- 
pears a second time, and is called upon to recant, but refuses. 
—19. The emperor signifies his intention to the assembly 
of outlawing Luther, in consequence of his refusal to recant. 
— 20. The papists endeavour to persuade the emperor not 
to grant Luther a safe-conducfc. He is again examined by a 
select assembly, at which the archbishop of Trier, Richard, 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



527 



tries all he can to win him over. — 26. He receives a safe- 
conduct for twenty-one days, and departs Worms with his 
companions. — 29. The elector does not trust in the seeming 
peace, but makes other preparations for the safety of Luther, 
and has him conducted to the Wartburg. 

May 8. The outlawry of Luther is completed, but kept 
back for some days for political reasons. The mass is abo- 
lished at Wittemberg. 

Nov. Luther leaves the Wartburg secretly, and comes to 
AmsdorfFen. 

Dec. 1. Leo X. dies. The Sorbonne anathematize the 
new doctrine. 

1522. Jan. Wittemberg in an uproar on account of the 
religious differences. 

Feb. Luther is adjured to return to them from his " Pat- 
mos." 

March 6. He does so ; restores order, partly by preaching, 
and without Wittemberg by letters. He begins to print his 
translation of the Bible, which sells immensely, but is hotly 
opposed. 

April. Duke George of Saxony begins to annoy Luther in 
several ways, but is met by contempt. 

Oct. The diet is carried on at Nuremberg, and the pope 
urges the execution of the edict of Worms by his legate, 
Cheregato. 

Dec. Pope Adrian has his views of the religious differences 
declared at Nurnberg. In this year the sect of Loyola 
began to arise. 

1523. Feb. The Gravamina make their appearance, and 
the papal legate departs, as he cannot accept them. Duke 
George inveighs bitterly against Luther. 

March 6. A decree is passed against the Lutheran faith, 
which is artfully insinuated into the hands of the elector. 

May. The king of England sends an embassy to the elec- 
tor, and presents him with the book against Luther. Duke 
George persecutes the Lutherans. Luther translates the 
Catechism. The king of Denmark and his queen hear Lu- 
ther at Wittemberg, and are deeply touched. 

Sept. 14. Pope Adrian VI. dies, and is succeeded by Pope 
Clement VII. The movements regarding the sacrament 
proceed in Switzerland. 



528 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



1-524. April 18. The diet at Niirnberg is closed, but the 
terms used offend the pope's legate, as mention is made of a 
council. 

July 6. The papal adherents hold a meeting at Ratisbon. 
Aug. Much persecution follows the Reformed Church. 

1525. Feb. 24. The king of France conquered by- 
Charles V. The elector dies. 

June. Luther marries Catherine von Boren. 
Oct. The mass is read for the first time in German at 
"Wittemberg. 

1526. Jan. A diet is held at Augsburg for the confusion 
of the Lutherans. — 9. But it confirms the final decrees of 
the diet of Niirnberg. 

June 23. The pope writes two useless letters to the em- 
peror. — 25. The diet is held at Spires. 

Sept. 17. The emperor replies to the letters of the pope. — 
20. Rome taken and plundered by Charles. 

Dec. 21. The answer of the emperor to the pope is read in 
the consistory. 

1527. If arch 5. Rome plundered and the pope held in 
captivity. Charles signifies his dislike to the Protestants. 
So also his brother Ferdinand. The reformed religion is 
introduced into Sweden. 

J\ r ov. 26. Peace between the emperor and the pope, and a 
council at the same time agreed upon. 

Dec. 9. The pope escapes from prison in the dress of a 
merchant. 

1528. The doings of Otto von Pack. 
May 28. He is detected and imprisoned. 

June. The elector of Brandenburg persecutes his own 
wife, who was a Lutheran. She flies to Wittemberg. 

July 3. Dionysius de Rieux, a Liitheian, is burnt at Paris. 

1529. Feb. A diet at Spires is proclaimed. 

March. The commissioners assemble, and show themselves 
very inimical to the Lutheran interest. Strasburg excluded 
from the actions of the diet. 

April 19. The Reformers protest against the decrees of 
the diet. — 20. The solemn protest is given in. 

J une. It is resolved by an assembly of Protestants, that 
the protest should be printed, and presented to the emperor 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



529 



by an embassy. It departs, but meets with ill success. The 
Colloquium at Marburg. — 23. Luther's opinion of it. 
Sept. 26. The theologians assemble. 

Oct. 1. The conference begins. — 4. Articles of agreement 
are proposed, to which no one agrees. 

Nov. 29. The convention of Smalcald. 

1530. Jan. 6. The convention of Nurnberg. The emperor 
has been at Bologna with the pope since the 5th Nov. 1529, 
endeavouring to conciliate the religious differences. — 21. A 
diet summoned, and its objects explained. 

Feb. The Protestants consider these objects. The seven- 
teen articles harmonized, and brought to Torgau about 
March 21. 

April 3. The Elector John goes to Augsburg to the diet, 
but leaves Luther at Coburg. 

May 2. John arrives in Augsburg, and announces his 
coming to the emperor. The Protestant princes cause their 
reformed minister to preach publicly. — 6. The emperor in- 
vites the elector to Inspruck, but he refuses to come. — 16. 
The Augsburg Confession, based on the Seventeen Articles, 
is completed, and receives the assent of Luther at Coburg. 
Gattenara, the chamberlain of the emperor, dies, by which 
the Protestants lose a great friend. — 20. Luther writes to 
the landgrave of Hesse, who would gladly have ended all 
dissension, and admitted the Swiss and IJplanders to the 
subscription of the Augsburg Confession. 

June. The assembled princes in Augsburg write to the 
emperor, and beg him to come quickly. — 15. He arrives. — 
17. The Protestants state their opinions, which are given 
to the Catholics to read. — 20. A herald forbids the preach- 
ing of either party. On this day the diet is opened, and 
prayers offered up for its prosperous issue. The speech of 
Count Frederick. — 22. The Protestants are advised to hold 
themselves in readiness with their confession. — 23. They 
revise and subscribe to it. — 24. The papal legate makes an 
oration. The Protestants desire that their confession should 
be read ; this is refused themselves, but they are allowed to 
retain it till it is wanted. — 25. It is read in German, and 
delivered to the emperor. — 27. It is delivered over to the 
Papists to be confuted. 

July 3. Zwingle prints his confession of faith at Zurich, 

2 M 



530 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



and presents it at Augsburg. — 12. Eck is ready with a con- 
futation of it in three days. — 15. The emperor urges the 
necessity of a council. — 31. And his proposition is rejected 
by the pope. 

Aug. 3. The confutation of the Lutherans read. The Pro- 
testants beg for a copy of it, but it is refused. — 5. It is 
afterwards promised them under strange restrictions. — 6. The 
landgrave of Hesse leaves Augsburg, which act offends the 
emperor. — 7-13. Several plans of reconciliation are proposed 
to the Protestants ; to which they reply, and entreat that 
the Catholic confutation be delivered to them. — 16. They 
- reassemble, and the articles of the Augsburg Confession are 
separately examined ; this is continued on 17, 18, 19, 20, 
and 21. — 22. The result is submitted to the emperor. A 
report of these proceedings is also sent to Luther, who con- 
siders a reconciliation impossible. — 25. Renewed correspond- 
ence between Melancthon and Luther. — 28. Duke Henry of 
Brunswick again attempts to bring about mutual concessions, 
which the Protestants will not accept. 

Sept. 22. The edict of Augsburg. — 25. Council regarding^ 
the Turkish war. In this month appeared the confession of 
the four cities. 

Oct. 16. The emperor replies to the papal objections to a 
council. The king of France urges for a council. — 21. The 
Protestants, — under what conditions they will join in the war 
against the Turks. — 22. Articles of peace are proposed to 
them by the elector of Brandenburg, not only militating, 
however, against their principles, but of which they may not 
receive a copy. 

Nov. 11. A general peace is proposed on the part of the 
elector of Saxony, and replied to by the emperor. — 13. The 
Protestant envoys depart from Augsburg. — 19. It is deter- 
mined to hold a council at Home. 

1531. Early in the month of January (rather in the 
previous December), Protestants assembled at Smalcald. 

Oct. 17. The reply of the Papists to the confessions. 
The Tetrapolitana Confessio is read to the deputies, but they 
cannot succeed in obtaining a copy. 

Dec. 19. The four cities join the Saxon confession. Assem- 
bly at Frankfort. 

1532. Jem. 6. Diet at Batisbon. In April, an assembly 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



531 



is called to Schweinfurt by the emperor, at which many 
deputies make their appearance. 

July 23. Peace between the different religions. 

1533. June 30. The Protestants declare their opinions 
on the subject of the council. 

Nov. The Italians beg for a council. Like Henry VIII., 
Erasmus writes his book on the unity of the Church. 

1534. Jan. The theologians hold an assembly at Basle on 
the doctrine of the sacrament. The first QEcolampadic Con- 
fession is again signed and printed on the 21st. 

Dec. Accession of Paul III. to the papal throne. 

1535. Feb. Another attempt at mutual agreement is made. 
April 1. Bucer presents his treatise on the doctrine of the 

sacrament at Augsburg. Luther writes to the citizens of 
Strasburg, proposing a place of assembly. 

Oct. The duke of Milan dies. War in Italy. 

Nov. Vergerius goes by Halle to Berlin. Meets Luther 
on the 6th in Wittemberg. — 31. Meets the elector of 
Saxony. 

Dec. 21. Protest of Smalcald. 

1536. April 5. Charles V. comes to Home, and makes 
(on the 7th) a remarkable speech on the subject of the 
council. Challenges the king of France. 

1537. Jan. 30. The papal nuncio arrives at Weimar. 
Feb. 1. The emperor writes to Luther. — 7-15. Articles of 

Smalcald. — 24. They are signed. — 25. Arrival of Vorstius, 
the papal legate, in Smalcald. — 26. Luther's il]ness obliges 
him to quit the place. 

March 5. Melancthon signs the articles in the absence of 
Luther. 

May 23. The council indicted for this day. 

Nov. 1. The council postponed, and the blame laid on the 
duke of Mantua. Seat transferred to Vicenza for the next 
year. 

1538. The pope goes to Nizza in order to reconcile the 
emperor and the king of France. The council suspended. 

May 18. A peace concluded for ten years. 
June 12. An assembly held in Eisenach concerning the 
Turkish war. 

Nov. 22. The emperor attempts to reconcile the religious 
parties. 

2 m 2 



532 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



Dec. 17. Henry VIII. excommunicated. 

1539. Feb. 14. Convention of Frankfort. 
May 29. Luther's first sermon in Leipsic. 

June 13. The enrperor commands the pope to open the 
council within eighteen months. 

1540. Feb. 24. Protestant envoys have an audience of 
the emperor. 

March 1. Convention of Smalcald. — 10. The emperor's 
reply is read. — 29. The princes arrive at Smalcald. 

June 6. An assembly is summoned to Spires on the subject 
of religion ; Hagenau is substituted. — 25. Hagenau conven- 
tion opens. 

July. 28. The edict of Hagenau published, and a meeting 
called to Worms. 

Nov. 25. Opening of the assembly at "Worms. 

Dec. 8. Thomas Campeggio holds an oration. — 22. Melanc- 
thon presents a defence of the Augsburg Confession. 

1541. Jan. 2. New replies presented at Worms by the 
papists. — 18. All matters transferred to Ratisbon by the 
emperor. 

April 5. Opening of the assembly at Ratisbon. — 17. First 
meeting held. 

May. Melancthon's writings appear. 

June. The elector of Brandenburg tries to bring about 
mutual concessions between the differing parties. — 11. The 
Protestant answer appears. 

July. The elector of Saxony refuses all mediation of tins 
kind. — 27. The meeting at Ratisbon abruptly closed. 

Aug. 28. Contarini receives a present from the pope on 
account of his able tactics. 

1542. Jan. Diet of Spires. 

Feb. 9. The diet is opened, and an unpleasant oration is 
made by the French ambassador. 

March 23. Morone proposes Trent as a fit place for the 
council. 

April. The Protestants promise aid to the emperor in the 
matter of the Turks. 

May 22. The council is indicted for November 1, at Trent. 
The bull is sent to every court of Europe. 

Aug. 25. Reply of the emperor to the bull. — 26. The 
Reformers protest against the council. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



533 



Oct. 1 6. The French bishops invited to attend. The papal 
legates sent to Trent. 

Dec. 23. The Swiss invited to the council. 

1543. Jan. 8. The papal legates arrive in Trent, and find 
no preparations for the council. — 9. Granvel holds an im- 
portant harangue. — 29. The diet at Nurnberg is opened. — 
30. The emperor speaks there. The council condemned by 
the Protestants. 

April 28. A recess instituted at Nurnberg. 

May 15. The council prorogued till another time, and the 
odium of this prorogation thrown on the Christians. 

June 4. The pope confers with the emperor at Bussetto. 

Aug. 4. The Protestants state their grievances to the 
emperor, and are graciously received. 

Sept. 8. The king of France writes to the Reformers that 
he will become of their communion. The letter is intercepted 
by the emperor, and sent to the pope. 

1544. Jan. A diet called at Spires. 

Feb. 20. It is opened. — 26. The papal epistle arrives at 
Spires. 

June 10. An edict is published dissolving the diet, with 
very favourable terms to the Protestants, at which the pope 
is angry. 

Aug. 25. His sharp breve published, addressed to the 
emperor. 

Nov. 9. Peace having been concluded between the emperor 
and France, and the council again indicted for the following 
year. 

1545. March 13. The papal legates arrive in Trent. — 
15. This was to have been the day of the opening of the 
council. 

May 3. Delay of the council. — 16. Farnese goes to the 
emperor at Worms. — 23. A bull against the bishops appear- 
ing by proctors at the council. 

Nov. 1 6. The council is to be opened on the 1 3th December. 

Bee. 4. The breve for the opening prepared.— 7. Final 
instructions to the legates. — 13. Opening of the council. 
First Session. — 18. First congregation. — 22. Another con- 
gregation. 

1546. Jan. 6. A congregation preparatory to the second 
session. — 7. Second Session. — 13. A congregation. — 18. 



534 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



Another. — 22. A third congregation touching reformation. 
— 30. A fourth congregation. 

Feb. 4. Third Session. — 5. The colloquy at Ratisbon. — 
8. First congregation. Soon after is held a congregation 
concerning the canonical books. — 18. Death of Martin 
Luther. 

March 15. Toledo, the imperial ambassador, arrives at 
Trent. — 21. Fruitless end of the colloquy at Ratisbon. — 
27. The traditions of equal authority with the canon. Con- 
gregation. — 29. The Yulgate declared authentic. 

April 5. The bishop of Chioggia opposes tradition. Con- 
gregation touching the reading and preaching of monks. — 

8. Fourth Session. — 1 1 . The Swiss summoned to the council 
by the pope. 

May 2. Congregation on the preaching of monks. — 10. 
Discussion continued. — 18. Congregation on the freedom of 
bishops. — 21. Congregation on the preaching of bishops. — 
24-25. On original sin. — 28. Congregation concerning original 
sin and the immaculate conception. 

June 8. Speech of Pacheco on the nature of the Virgin. — 

9. Congregation on the residence of bishops. — 16. The decrees 
to be published in the fifth session are read. — 17. Fifth 
Session. — 30. Touching ceremonials. Congregation. 

July 3. The pope writes to the Swiss. — 5, &c. Several 
congregations. — 15. General congregation. — 19. General 
congregation touching justification. — -22-28. Further pro- 
ceedings on the same. 

Aug. The question of residence strongly debated. — 15. 
The emperor forbids the transferring of the council. — 19. A 
general fast at Trent. — 20. General congregation. 

Sept. From now to the end ? fresh debates concerning residence. 

1547. Jan. 13. Sixth Session. — 15. General congrega- 
tion touching reformation and the doctrine of the sacraments. 

March 3. Seventh Session. — 4. The eucharist. — 7. Trans- 
ferring of the council. — 11. Eighth Session. Decree. — 
12. The bishops go to Bologna. 

April 21. Ninth Session. — 24. Battle of Muhlberg. 

June 2. Tenth Session. 

Aug. 12. French bishops come to Bologna. 

Sept. 1. Diet of Augsburg. — 14. The three ecclesiastical 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



535 



orders beg the pope to transfer the council back to Trent. 
Prorogation of the session. 

Dec. 27. Answer given to the imperial envoys on the 
question of the transference. 

1548. Jan. 14. The cardinal of Trent appears at the 
diet of Augsburg. — 1 6. Protestation of the emperors. 

Feb. L Papal reply to this protestation. — 16. A breve 
sent to Trent for sending three bishops. — 25. Deliberation 
on the papal requirement. 

March 17. The Interim. — 24. Discussed by the emperor 
and the elector of Saxony. 

June 16. The Wittemberg theologians protest against the 
Interim. 

July 1. A meeting summoned at Meissen. — 8. The Interim 
read at Augsburg. — 12. The king of Denmark refuses to 
accept the Interim. 

The remainder of the year taken up by debates on the 
Interim. 

Sept. 18. The council suspended by the pope. 

1549. Nov. 10. Death of Paul III.— 15-28. The election 
of a new pope under consideration. 

1550. Feb. 7. Del Monte pope, under the name of 
Julius III. 

March. The pope shows a great desire to continue the 
Council of Trent. 

Dec. 27. Bull for the resumption of the council. 

1551. Feb. 13. Close of the Diet of Augsburg. 

May 1. Reopening of the council.- — 13. The war prevents 
the resumption of active business. 

Sept 1. Twelfth Session. — 8. The eucharist. — 21. It is 
advised that the cup be granted to the Germans, and a safe- 
oonduct permitted. 

Oct. 11. Thirteenth Session. The safe-conduct to Pro- 
testants read. — 12. General congregation. 

Nov. Several embassies arrive in Trent. — 25. Fourteenth 
Session. — 26. The question of the communion sub utraque 
discussed. 

1552. Jan. 24. The Protestant ambassadors have an 
audience in a general congregation. — 25. Fifteenth Session. 

April 5. The Oberland ambassadors leave Trent, — 28. The 
Sixteenth Session. Suspension of the council. 



536 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



May. In the course of this month the council is quite 
deserted. 

1553-4. The council suspended. 

1554. Aug. The Austrians desire the cup of the emperor. 
It is refused. 

1555. March 23. Death of Pope Julius III. 

April 7. Cervini elected Pope Marcellus II. — 30. Death 
of Pope Marcellus II. 

May 23. Election of CarafFa, under the name of Paul IV. 

1556. Jan. Many embassies pass between the pope and 
the emperor about the council. 

The Austrians ask and obtain the cup. 
April. Lutheranism is attempted to be extirpated in Austria. 
May. The Bavarians obtain the communion sub utraque ; 
but it does not last any long period. 
Aug. 5. The colloquium at Eisenach. 

1557. Sept. 5. Assembly at Worms. — 11. First session. 
—13. Second.— 14-15. Third and fourth.— 16. Fifth.— 20. 
The sixth. 

1558. March. King Ferdinand elected emperor. The 
pope refuses to recognise his authority and title. 

1559. April. First diet of Ferdinand at Augsburg. 
Aug. 18. Death of Paul IY. 

1560. Jan. 11. Election of Pius IY.— 1 6. Acknowledges 
the authority of the emperor. 

Trent revisited to arrange it for the continuation of the 
council. The persecutions of the Waldenses and Huguenots 
begin. 

April 19. Death of Melancthon. 

June. The pope converses with the ambassadors about the 
council. 

July. France urges the continuation of the council. 

Sept. 23. The pope announces to the ambassadors that he 
intends to resume the council. 

Nov. 15. A jubilee proclaimed in consequence. — 29. The 
bull of indiction published. 

1561. Feb. 14. The legates sent to Trent. 
March 17. Departure for Trent. 

April 16. Arrival at Trent. 

Sept. 9. The colloquy of Poissy begins. 

Nov. The bishops come to Trent. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



537 



Dec. 19. Cardinal Sinionetta arrives in Trent. 

1562. Jan. The beginning of this year is solemnized by 
many masses. — 15. A general congregation. — 18. Seven- 
teenth Session. — 27. General congregation. — 30. Several 
prelates arrive in Trent. 

Feb. 1 (rather Jan. 30). General congregation. The Index 
Expurgatorius. — 26. Eighteenth Session. 

March 2. Safe-conduct granted to all princes. — 8. It is 
published, but is considered "slippery." — 14-16. The ambas- 
sadors of the king of Spain, the duke of Florence, and the 
Swiss cantons arrive. — 16-18. They are introduced at the 
council. 

April 8. A congregation on the residence of bishops. — 19. 
The Venetian ambassadors arrive at Trent. — 24. Introduced 
at the council. They held an oration, which was suppressed. 

May 14. Nineteenth Session. — 18. The French ambas- 
sadors arrive. — 26. They obtain an audience, and Pibrac 
makes a remarkable speech. — 27. The ambassadors from 
Saltzburg have an audience. 

June 4. Twentieth Session. — 17. The emperor Ferdinand 
presents the council with his postulata. The Papal party 
attempt to suppress them. — 27. The Bavarian ambassador 
has an audience. 

July 8. General congregation. — 16. Twenty-first Ses- 
sion. — 19. The theologians receive thirteen articles to 
examine. — 21. General congregation. 

Aug. This month passes chiefly in disputes on the 
eucharist. — 22. The arrival of the French bishops and theo- 
logians is announced at Trent. The question of communion 
sub utraque is brought forward, and allowed, under certain 
restrictions. 

Sept. 15. The decree concerning the cup is hotly opposed. 
— 17. Twenty-second Session. The canons on the eucharist 
read. 

Oct Ordination of priests formed the chief topic of discus- 
sion in this month. — 14. The Polish ambassador arrives. — 
20. The general of the Jesuits defends the supremacy of 
the pope at Trent. 

Nov. 3. The Polish ambassador has an audience. — 6. The 
fathers have the decree on the residence of bishops laid 
before them. — 13. Cardinal of Lorraine enters Trent. — 21. 



538 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY OF THE 



Secret orders come from Rome to the legates on the subject 
of the cardinal. — 23. The cardinal makes his first appearance 
at the council. — 24. Maximilian, son of Ferdinand, is chosen 
king of Rome. The Protestants send in a third recusation 
of the council. 

Dec. 1. The crowning of Maximilian is commemorated at 
Trent by solemnities. — 2. Dispute as to the period of the next 
session. — 3. Angry recriminations on the residence of bishops. 
— 9. The duke of Navarre dies. — 15. The Bavarians ask for 
the cup at the communion. — 28. Public thanksgivings 
offered up on account of the victory over the Huguenots. 

1563. Jan. 1. The pope publishes several bulls for the 
reform of the Signature Justitise. — 3. The French ambas- 
sadors present thirty-four articles for reformation. — 14. A 
courier brings the papal answer to Trent. — 15. The session 
suspended. — 16. The legates write to Borromeo. — 29. Yis- 
conti comes from Rome. — 31. Bobba, bishop of Aosta, has 
an audience. 

Feb. 4. The French ambassadors demand that their articles 
of reform be brought forward. — 5. The legates submit eight 
articles to controversy. — 17. Soto speaks on divorce. — 
20. Answer of Borromeo to the legates. — 27. The cardinal of 
Lorraine returns from Inspruck, whither he has been sum- 
moned. 

March 2. Gonzaga, president of the council, dies. — 7. The 
pope names two others to occupy his place. — 8. Cardinal 
Seripando falls ill. — 9. The news arrive at Trent, that the 
duke de Guise is wounded. — 12. Tumult in Trent caused 
by the servants of the Italians and Spaniards. — 16. They are 
quieted and the congregations are resumed. — 17. A French 
theologian speaks on the subject of residence. — 18. The 
exequies of the Cardinal Seripando are held. — 20. The 
disputes of the theologians end. Question whether the 
canons on marriage should be discussed. 

April 2. Lorraine answers Yisconti on the emperor's 
journey to Bologna. — 13. Morone president. — 16. The 
Spanish count of Lune has an audience of Cardinal Mo- 
rone on the subject of abolishing the formula " proponentibus 
legatis."— 20. Death of Peter de Soto.— 24. The decrees 
concerning the abuse of orders are communicated to the 
ambassadors. — 28. Cardinal Navagero arrives from Rome. 



COUNCIL OF TRENT. 



539 



May 10. General congregation. Reading of a letter of the 
queen of Scotland. — 17. Further discussion of the abuses. — 
21. The Spanish ambassador Lune reads a protest on the 
question of relative rank, in regard to France. 

June 2. The French ambassador has an audience. — 
7. Morone proposes an answer. — 16. Congregation on reform 
and divers other matters. — 20. The legates present Lune 
with an answer on the subject of " proponentibus legatis." — r 
21. The reply read at congregation. — 27. Lune returns to 
Trent. — 29. Great tumult on account of Lune. — 30. Lune 
confers with the Spanish and Italian ambassadors on this 
matter. 

July 7. The presidents hold a congregation of two 
cardinals and thirty bishops, in order to bring the matter to 
a happy close. — 9. General congregation on residence. — 13. 
The Spanish bishops entreat Lune to protest concerning the 
session. — 14. Morone has the decrees read the day before the 
session. — 15. Twenty-third Session. — 22. The canons of 
marriage completed. — 31. The question of clandestine mar- 
riage put to the vote in a congregation. 

Aug. 7. Certain marriages declared void, and a certain age 
prescribed. — 11. The Venetian ambassadors protest against 
the seventh canon of divorce. — 13. Congregation. Pre- 
destination discussed. The emperor not satisfied with the 
chicanery of the council. — 23. The emperor writes to his 
ambassador. 

Sept. 7. General congregation. The Maltese ambassador 
speaks. — 10. Question of secret marriage. — 13. The lesser 
theologians assemble at Morone's house. — 17. Lorraine writes 
to the king of France. — 18. Goes to Rome. — 23. Lune 
again urges the question of "proponentibus legatis." The 
French ambassador refuses to attend the assemblies. 

Oct. 12. The emperor replies to a report of Lune's. — 26. 
Alteration of the decree regarding clandestine marriages. — 
27. This decree is put to the vote. The pope desires that 
nothing may be proceeded with in the council till the car- 
dinal of Lorraine returns. The pope publishes a sentence 
of seven French bishops. 

Nov. 5. Lorraine returns to Trent. — 8. The corrected 
decrees are again discussed. — 10. General congregation 
on marriage. — 11. Twenty-fourth Session. — 12. Question 



540 



CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY, ETC. 



of closing the council. — 1-5. General congregation on the 
fourteen articles of the reformation. — 20. General con- 
gregation. The pope is to be requested to confirm all the 
decrees made in his time, and in those of his predecessors. 
21. — Thirty canons of the reformation of convents. — 22. The 
decrees of purgatory, saint-worship, relics, and images. The 
imperial ambassadors press for the conclusion of the council. — 
25. The fathers hold a general congregation on the question 
of closing the council. — 29. The Spanish ambassadors take 
counsel with their bishops as to how the council may be 
sustained. 

Dec. 2. General congregation. — 3. Twenty-fifth and 
last Session. Ragazzoni preaches. — 4. The prelates sign 
under pain of excommunication. The pope is advised by 
some not to confirm the council. 

1564. Jan. 26. The pope confirms the council. Portugal 
and Venice accept the council as well as Spain, but France 
will not do so. 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



P. 1. — Roscoe, Leo X. v. ii. p. 90, sqq., takes a very mild view of the 
conduct of Leo in reference to indulgences. After dwelling on the fact 
that the building of St. Peter's was the main cause of their introduction, 
he observes, "that there was any degree of novelty in the method 
adopted by Leo, of obtaining a temporary aid to the revenue of the 
Church by the dispensation of indulgences, may be denied with confi- 
dence ; it being certain that these measures had been resorted to as 
early as the year 1100, when Urban II. granted a plenary indulgence 
and remission of sins to all such persons as should join in the crusades, 
to liberate the sepulchre of Christ from the hands of the infidels." 

P. 5. — In the third and fourth volumes of Wessenberg's Die Grossen 
Kirch en versenimlungen des 15 ten und 16 ten Jahrhunderts, is an his- 
torical and critical sketch of the Council of Trent, commencing, as 
usual, with the outbreak of Luther against indulgences. The introd ac- 
tion of Mendham, my talented predecessor in a Protestant history of 
the council, contains much that is valuable, although he is too much dis- 
posed to underrate the intellectual character of Leo X.'s reign. 

P. 11. — Roscoe, I. c. v. ii. p. 94. " Silvestro Prierio ... a part of 
whose duty it was to license the publication of books, could not divest 
himself of his professional importance, and instead of answering the 
arguments of Luther, thought it sufficient to assert that they were 
heretical. The reply of Luther to this work produced another publica- 
tion from Prierio, in which he incautiously exalted the authority of the 
pope above both the councils and canons of the Church, and affirmed 
that the whole force of the sacred writings depended on his authority. 
This was more than the patience of Luther could support. In a short 
address to his readers, he rudely asserts, that the book of Prierio is such 
a compound of lies and blasphemies that it can only be the work of the 
devil ; and that if the pope and cardinals countenance such doctrines, 
Rome must be the seat of Antichrist." 

Ibid, line 22, read "professing" instead of "possessing." 

P. 14, note v , read "Mosheim, Cent, xvi." The same mistake occurs 
in the next page. 

P. 15. — "This rose the pontiff himself describes in his letter to the 
elector as, ' Sacratissimam auream Rosam, quarta dominica Sanctse 
Quadragesima? a nobis chrismate sancto delibatam, odoriferoque musco 
inspersam, cum benedictione apostolica, ut vetus est consuetudo, aliis 
adhibitis sacris ceremoniis consecratam ; munus quippe dignissimum et 
magni mysterii, a Romano pontifice nonnisi alicui ex primoribus 
Christianorum orbis Regi aut Principi de Sancta Apostolica sede bene 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



merito quotannis dicari et mitti soli tarn.'" — Leon. X. ep. ad Fred. 
Ducem, ap. Seckend. p. 65. 

P. 19.— Read "Archbishop Elector of Treves." 

Ibid, second line from bottom. — Read " the object of this meeting." 

P. 22. — " The delegation of this authority to an avowed and personal 
enemy of Luther was not calculated to allay the resentment of that 
fearless Reformer, and has been justly censured, even by the firmest 
apologists of the Roman court, as affording a pretext to Luther that 
this measure was not the result of an impartial consideration of his 
conduct, but of the odium of his declared and inveterate enemies." — 
Roscoe, v. ii. p. 217. 

Ibid. — "The xij daye of Maye, in the yeare of our Lord 1521, and in 
thethirteentheyeare of the Reigne of our Soveraigne Lord Kinge Henry 
the Eighte of that Name, the Lord Thomas Wolsey, by the Grace of 
God Legate de Latere, Cardinal of Sainct Cecely and Archbishop of 
Yorke, came unto Saint Paules Churche of London, with the most parte 
of the Byshops of the Realme, where he was received with procession, 
and sensid by Mr. Richard Pace, then beinge Deane of the said Church. 
After which ceremonies done, there were four Doctors that bare a 
canope of cloth of gold over him goinge to the Highe Alter, where he 
made his oblacion ; which done, hee proceeded as abovesaid to the 
Crosse in Paules Church Yeard, where was ordeined a scaffold for the 
same cause, and he, sitting under his cloth of estate which was ordeined 
for him, his two crosses on everie side of him ; on his right handsittinge 
on the place where hee set his feete, the Pope's embassador, and nexte 
him the Archbishop of Canterbury : on his left hand the Emperor's 
embassador, and next him the Byshop of Duresme, and all the other 
Byshops with other noble Prelates sate on twoe formes outeright forthe, 
and then the Byshop of Rochester made a sermon, by the consentinge 
of the whole clergie of England, by the commandement of the Pope, 
against one Martinus Eleuthereus, and all his workes, because hee erred 
sore, and spake against the hollie faithe ; and denounced them accursed 
which kept anie of his bookes, and there were manie burned in the said 
church yeard of his said bookes duringe the sermon, which ended, my 
Lord Cardinall went home to dinner with all the other prelates." — 
Cotton MSS. in Roscoe's Leo X., Appendix, p. 420, v. ii. 

P. 23, line 1. — Read " directly from the pontiff, were." 

P. 28, line 8. — "Devices." Luther availed himself of the talents of 
Luca Eranach, one of the most distinguished artists of the time, to 
satirize the Roman court, in a series of figures representing the deeds of 
Christ and of Antichrist. — Seckendorf, i. p. 148. 

P. 32. — With the description of this discussion, compare Roscoe, 
Leo X. v. ii. p. 225, sqq. 

P. 37, note *, add : " Enjoying the esteem of his enemies, but detested 
by those who formed his immediate circle, he congratulated himself on 
his death -bed on his escape from this labyrinth of tormenting reflections, 
and his friend Cardinal Enckenwort could write upon his tomb, — 'Here 
lies one, who in his life found nothing more miserable than his being 
called to reign.'" — Bungener, Hist, of the Council of Trent, p. 11 
(Scott's translation). 

P. 38. — Respecting the Centum Gravamina, I have no hesitation in 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



543 



giving the following extract from Mendham : — " The Italian diarist 
{i. e. Servazio) has noticed and described the contents of the Centum 
Gravamina in fair proportion. He has specified the various extortions,, 
expensive dispensations, absolutions, indulgences, pecuniary penances, 
and so forth. But the document is too important to be dismissed in a 
summary way. Let the reader take any edition of the book into his 
hand, and peruse only a few of the century of charges which the lay and 
principal members of a great legislative assembly of the German empire 
felt themselves impelled to bring against an authority which they still 
acknowledged as supreme in spirituals. Let him begin with the third 
article on the subject of papal indulgences, by which money was drawn 
in profusion from the simple, brought like any other commodity for sale 
into public market, and in proportion to the price paid conferring what 
the purchasers could not understand otherwise than as a license to sin ; 
whence all kind of specified iniquity. Let him read in Article VII. 
what is affirmed of the authorized questors, the stationary preachers of 
indulgences, — their impostures, their extortions. Not to detain himself 
with the minor, although scandalous impositions respecting ecclesiastical 
benefices, the annates, reservations, expectative grants, and various 
assumptions of temporal jurisdiction, let him proceed at once to the 
LXVIIth article, where the ecclesiastic judges and officials are charged 
with aggravating the spiritual penance to such a degree that laics are 
induced to purchase immunity with money, which goes no farther than 
the private pocket of the ecclesiastics. Let him, in Article LXXIV., 
read how double fees are imposed upon some for the same offence ; and in 
the two following, the charge of unchastity and profligacy in the lives 
of the clergy. Article XC. is to much the same purpose ; and the next, 
openly, in the face of the world, and in the ears of his holiness at Rome, 
like all the rest, declares, that whilst concubines were allowed to priests 
on the payment of a certain tax, the same tax was levied upon those 
who lived continently, because the bishop was in want, and they were 
at liberty to do otherwise at their option. The XCIIIrd article asserts 
and exposes the pertinacity with which the vagabond Ferminanes and 
Stationemes, monks and priests, infested sick-beds, and the artifices 
which they used to obtain legacies. The whole, however, of this por- 
tentous document ought to be read, to convey an adequate view of the 
superlative iniquity of the Church as well as court of Rome at that 
time." — Memoirs, Introduction, p. 6, sqq. 

P. 40. — Although, however, Clement was the son of one of Galileo de 
Medici's mistresses, and had never been able to prove that his mother 
had been lawfully married ; yet in creating him a cardinal, Leo X. had 
caused solemn sentence to be pronounced, declaring his legitimacy. 
This, however, as M. Bungener remarks, H was only an additional proof 
that it had till then been at least doubtful, and people continued to 
doubt." 

P. 41, line 4. — Bead "invested the castle," not H stormed." 

Ibid, note K — Add Mendham, Memoirs, Introd. Notes, p. 10. 

P. 42, end of Chapter XXIII. — The beleaguered state of Rome, and 
the difficulties into which Clement found himself plunged, are happily 
described by Bungener, p. 14, sqq. 

P. 44. — " While the question of the interpreting of Scripture involved 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



another, as to what was the true church." The feelings of the Triden- 
tine fathers on this subject are well represented in the words of Cardinal 
Hosius : — " Si quis habet interpretationem Romanae Ecclesiae, etiamsi 
nec scit, nec intelligit, an et quomodo cum Scripturse verbis conveniat, 
is tamen habet ipsissimum verbum Dei." — Apud Bishop Marsh, View 
of the Churches of England and Rome, p. 131. 
P. 49, line 1. — Head " we cannot but wish." 

P. 52. — M. Bungener takes a nearly similar view of the real unwil- 
lingness of Clement VII. for the convocation of a council. 

P. 59, line 16. — Bead "contagion of their vices." 

Ibid. Chapter XXXII. note i. — " Aveva egli un figlio naturale, detto 
Pier Luigi, giacche come osserva il Muratori, in quel corrotto secolo 
non si guardava per minuto a tali deformita, o come scrive Y Aff 5, i vizj 
oggidi piu abborriti, o almeno celati, passavano per una specie di galan- 
teria, e si vedevano portati in trionfo pur troppo da chi avrebbe potuto 
sradicarli e sbandirli." — Bossi, v. xvii. p. 455. 

Ibid, note r . — " He saw that for the moment resistance was impolitic ; 
and, accordingly, hardly had he taken his seat on the throne, when he 
began to speak of the council as the sole remedy for the evils of the 
time." — M. Bungener. 

P. 63, line 5. — "In explanation and defence of such [civil] acts of 
general councils, they have been lately represented as a sort of general 
parliament, deriving their authority as well from temporal as from spi- 
ritual power. But whoever examines the convocation, the celebration, 
the signatures, and the confirmation of a general council, will find that 
it is wholly and solely ecclesiastical. Who convolced, for instance, the 
very Council of Trent ? Pope Paul III., as appears from his bull of 
indiction. Who presided at the council ? Three legates of the pope. . . 
By whom were its canons and decrees finally confirmed ? By the pope 
himself, as appears from the Confirmatio Concilii. It is clear, therefore, 
that the council had no temporal character of any kind belonging to it. 
That temporal ambassadors from different princes were at Trent, during 
the time that the council was holden, is perfectly true, and they intrigued 
perhaps with the cardinal legates. But the acts of the council itself 
derived their whole validity from ecclesiastical authority In- 
deed, if it were otherwise, a general council would not represent the 
Church. Let us hear what the professor of Divinity at Maynooth says 
on this subject. In his treatise Be Ecclesia Christi, he has a chapter 
entitled, ' Of the Infallibility of the Church assembled in General 
Councils.' He defines a council to be 'a lawful congregation of bishops, 
assembled to give judgment in things relating to the faith, the morals, 
and the discipline of the Church ;* and he declares that the ? Roman Pon- 
tiff, in consequence of his primacy, convokes general councils by ordinary 
right, presides over them, either by himself or by his legates, and con- 
firms them.' It was the Church of Rome, therefore, represented in the 
Council of Trent, which claimed the right of excommunicating kings, 
and depriving their subjects of their private property." — Bishop Marsh, 
I. c. p. 249, sqq. 

P. 64, line 10. — Read '{ sustenance. " 

P. 80, note?.— Salig, Geschichte des Tridentinisches Conciliums, un- 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



545 



hesitatingly adopts this statement of Sarpi's, remarking, that the 
weather was to bear the blame of their want of punctuality. 
P. 81, line 9. — For whither read where. 

P. 82, end of Chap. XLIV. — The unsatisfactory commencement of 
the council, after having hung so many years in abeyance, gave rise to 
some disagreeable allusions to the fable of the mountain bringing forth 
a mouse — an allusion evidently grounded upon the name of the first 
legate, Del Monte. 

Ibid. — " Pallavicino is not always well-informed. When Sarpi relates 
that Paul III. had proposed to the Emperor Charles V., at the Congress 
of Busseto, that the fief of Milan should be conferred on his nephew, 
who was married to the emperor's natural daughter, Pallavicino devotes a 
whole chapter to contradict this. Nor will he believe any other historians 
who state the same fact. . . Since Pallavicino displays so much vehe- 
mence, we must suppose that he here writes bona fide. Sarpi's account 
of the matter is well founded for all that ; the despatches of the Flo- 
rentine ambassador (Dispaccio Guicciardini, 26 Giugno, 1J43) put the 
matter beyond dispute." — Panke, v. iii. p. 374. 

Ibid, last line. — Read " In order to forward." 

P. 88, line 19. — Read " or with a bull of faculty." 

Ibid, line 5 from the bottom. — Read "to Trent," and for " bishop of 
Kitoreto" read "Bitonto." 

P. 95, line 25. — Read "occasion." 

P. 96, line 17.— Read "On the 7th of December? 

P. 97. — Milledoni, who has written a summary of the history and 
proceedings of the Council of Trent, gives a rather full account of the 
city, its fine churches, and more particularly of its splendid cathedral 
dedicated to St . Vigilius, formerly bishop of that city, and who suffered 
martyrdom. The reader will find this diary among the MSS. in the 
Bang's Library of the British Museum, No. 14,273 A, pp. 228. Through 
the kindness of my friend Mackenzie, I possess a complete abstract of 
its contents, but they are of little specific value. Mendham looks upon 
the author as a great bigot. 

P. 9S, line 10. — Read " Ercole Severola." 

P. 105, line 3.— Read " Pettri." % 

P. Ill, Chap. VIII. — This seems an opportune place for intro- 
ducing a transcript of a curious document in the Harleian MSS. (No. 
7,015, p. 161), entitled 

' - A briefe of those things which were called into consultation, in 
the beginninge of that holy councell of Trent, and concluded in privy 
councell amongst the Senators, first against the kinge of Nauarre, be- 
cause that he doth not well gouerne the affaires of Charles his warde, 
king of Ffrance, and is an author of spreadinge abrode that new Cal- 
uinist sect in France ; then against the other heretics of new sects." 

" First of all, that the matter may be performed with greater autho- 
rity, they have thought good that Catholicke Kinge Philippe should be 
the cheefe in the whole businesse, and haue created him with a generall 
consent, the cheefe head and captaine of this matter. 

"And they have determined that he should proceede after this man- 

2 N 



546 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



ner, first that he should complaine and expostulate with the kinge of 
Nauarre, because he favoureth new religion against the custome of his 
antecessors, and to the greate daineger of the kinge his warde, whose 
care he ought to sustaine. 

"Whoe if he shall shew him selfe more willfull to these thinges, he 
shall assay to drive him away from his so wicked a purpose by large 
promises, and hope beinge offered him of recoueringe his kingdome or 
of some greate profit or commodity in recompence of the same, he shall 
asswaige and bende him if it may be that he would be in his power, 
and ioine with him against the other authors of that perniciouse sect ; 
which if he doe fall out accordinge to our minde, then ther will be a 
very plaine and easy way to make warr. 

"But if he shall persist in his obstinacie, yet never the lesse Kinge 
Philippe (as one whom this matter doth greatly concerne as well for 
the authority given to him from the holy councell, as for neighbour- 
hoode and affinity) shall warne the kinge of Nauarre of his duty by 
treatable and pleasant letters, ever and anone by promises and flat- 
teries, and sometimes by threateninges.* 

if In the meane time, he shall make choice, and have in a redinesse, 
as priuily as he can, and without suspition, in the winter, in Spaine, 
a mustered band of choice men, and in the beginninge of the springe, 
when all thinges are prepared and in a t reddinesse, he shall declare 
openly what he intendeth : so it shall come to passe that the vnarmed 
and vnprovided kinge of Nauarre may easily be oppressed ; if he will 
stande against them with an vnfurnished bande or endeuour to keepe 
them out of his coasts. 

"But if he shall giue place he shall easily be driuen from his kinge- 
dom, as well he, as his wife, and all his children. 

" But if he doth resist, and his voluntary souldiers doe defende 
him, and that ther be so many conspired togeather of his sect, that 
they may hinder the victory, then the duke of Guise shall professe 
himselfe the head of the Catholic faction and shall leuay an army of 
his chiefest men, and of all his followers, and so he shall set uppon 
the kinge of Nauarre on the other side, that beinge assaulted on both 
sides, he necessarily fall into the pray of one of them, neither can it 
be that the one king Nauarre can match so great dukes and two so 
greate armies. 

" Ffurthermore the emperour and all the other Germaine princes, 
which are of the Catholike religion, shall endeuour that all the enter- 
ances into Ffrance, be maide vp, in the meane time while that warr 
is maide ther, least that the Protestant princes sende ouer some bandes 
and bringe some aide to the king of Nauarre. 

u And least peraduenture the Suiters [Swiss] Protestants doe bringe 
aide to him, it is to be prouided that they which follow the authority 
of the Church of Rome doe bid warr to the rest, and that the Ro- 



a In the MS. the word bribinge is erased and threateninges substituted. 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



547 



maine bishope doe liealpe the Suiters of his religion, with what aide 
he can, and giue them mony to the charges of warr and other thinges 
which are necessary. 

" Ouer and aboue these thinges, the Catholike King Philippe shall 
grant to the duke of Sauoy parte of his army, to be gouerned by him, 
and the same duke shall geather in his dominion as greate an army as 
he can conueniently. 

"The duke of Ferrer [Ferrara] shall be assigned the chefest captaine 
of the pope's bandes and of the rest of the princes of Italy, and the 
same duke shall ioine him selfe to the duke of Sauoy, to the increase of 
whose army the Emperor Fferdinandus shall haue a care to send some 
choyce number of horsemen and footemen thether [thither] of the Ger- 
maines ; but the duke of Sauoy wheles that warr is maide by the 
Swisers and Frenchmen, shall with his armies on the sudden set vpon 
the city Geneva, situated by the Loxar [? Leman] lake, and shall not 
leave off nor bringe back against his army before that he hauinge. ob- 
tained the city quietly either shall kill with the sworde or drownde in 
the lake all those men ther, without any respect of sexe or of age, and 
vtterly ouerthrowe the city, that all the worlde may knowne [? know] 
that the diuine godheade doth recompence the slownese of the punish- 
ment with the weighte of the same, and that the children and posterity 
shall smarte for the wickednesse of ther parents, especialy those that 
are committed against religion, by a memorable example for all ages. 

"With which terror ther is no doubte but the other neighbour 
nations beinge strucken with feare may be recalled to ther right wits, 
especially those which ether by reasone of ther age, or of ther ignorance, 
are more rude, and therefore more tractable, which are to be spared : 
but in France, for most weighty causes, ther is no other course to be 
taken, no man's life must be saued which hath at any time professed 
this sect, which besinese truly of rootinge out those which are of the 
new religion is to be committed to the duke of Guise, which shall haue 
this also in commaundement, that he shall vtterly rate [? root] out the 
house of Burbonne, and all that nation and name, leaste at any time 
ther should be any of that stocke which should prosecute the reuenge 
of these thinges, and raise up againe this new religion. 

Si After this manner, all thinges beinge well settled through all France, 
and the kingdome being restored into the former estate, and all our 
forces beinge geathered together, Germany is to be inuaded, and to be 
chalenged, and restored againe, by the healpe and aide of the emperour, 
and of the bishopes, to Rome and to the Apostolicke Sea. 

" Which warr, because it may be more greate and more large then it 
is expected, least it goe forwarde but slowly and vnfitly for want of 
money, that this mischefe may be prouided for, what mony the duke of 
Guise shall get by the spoiles and booties of so many citicens and riche 
and mighty men which shall be killed in France for new religion (and 
they must needs be very greate), he shall lende all to the emperour and 
to other princes and to the bishopes which doe pursue the ends of this 
warr in Germany, a sufficiente caution and bonde being taken that all 

2 n 2 



548 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



this somme which shall be laide out in this matter, after the end. of the 
warr shall be paied backe again e and restored to the same duke of 
Guise, out of the spoiles and praies of those Lutherans and of the rest 
which shall be killed in Germany for new religion. 

" And least that the holy fathers should seeme to be slow to bringe 
aide to this so holy a warr, or should seem to spare their reuenue and 
owne mony, the cardinalls have decreed that the priests ought to be 
content with a yearly reuenue of some fiue or sixe thousande crounes, 
and the riche bishopes with two or three thousande at the most, and 
ought to giue willingely the rest of the whole somme of ther yearly 
reuenue towardes this warr (which is maide to roote out the sect of the 
Lutherans and of the Caluinists and to re-establish again e the Romaine 
Church e), vntil it be brought to some happy end. 

" But if any ecclesiasticale or cleargyman will him selfe warr in this 
so godly a warr, it is lawfull for him to give his name, and to professe 
this warr only, and it is declared of all that it may be done without any 
scruple of conscience. 

" Ffrance and Germany beinge brought into order, and those chefest 
prouinces beinge restored to the obedience of the most holy churche, as 
concerninge the kingdomes thereaboute, how both they may be brought 
into one sheepefould, and into the government of one apostolicke shep- 
hearde, the fathers doe not doubte but that the time it selfe will afforde 
both good councell and good oportunity, God prosperinge these ther 
holy endeuours." 

This is written in a neat hand of the period, upon two small folio 
leaves of thick paper, and seems to have been revised and corrected 
with great care. 

P. 112, line 9 from the bottom. — For "prope" read "proper." 

P. 117.— "In the year 1546, the fathers at the Council of Trent 
declared the Latin Vulgate to be authentic, for a very good reason, 
because, if it were necessary to have recourse to the originals, the 
grammarians and critics would have been more important persons than 
these ecclesiastics." — Jortin, L. of Erasmus, i. p. 128, after Perizonius. 

P. 126, note. — By "'latter author" I mean Pallavicino ; by his "ad- 
versary," Fra Paolo. The sentence seemed capable of a construction to 
the disadvantage of Dr. TVaterworth. 

P. 132. — " The countenance which he had given to the Lutheran 
heresy was the only crime imputed to him, as "veil as the only reason 
assigned to justify the extraordinary rigour of this decree, The Pro- 
testants could scarce believe that Paul, how zealous soever to defend 
the established system, or to humble those who invaded it, would have 
ventured to proceed to such extremities against a prince and elector of 
the empire, without having previously secured such powerful protection 
as would render his censure something more than an impotent and 
despicable sally of resentment. They were, of course, deeply alarmed 
at this sentence against the archbishop, considering it as a sure indica- 
tion of the malevolent intentions, not only of the pope, but of the 
emperor, against the whole party." — Robertson's Charles V. v. iiL 
p. 71, sq. 



ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 



549 



P. 144, line 4 from bottom. — Read " allowed to leave without per- 
mission." 

P. 157, line 3.— Read " Senigaglia." 

P. 158, line 6. — For "council" read "session." 

P. 167, note.— Read " Hallam, v. ii. p. 96." 

P. 168, line 10. — Read "left any room for hesitation." 

P. 171, line 12. — Read " and this they argued." 

P. 180, line 2 from the bottom. — Read "Orazio." 

P. 213, line 26. — For "Sigismodo" read " Sigismondo." 

P. 221. — In Wessenberg, v. iv. p. 208, sqq. are some capital remarks 
on the internal policy of the council, as set forth in these letters. 

P. 248, note p. — Add "Before Charles left Inspruck, he withdrew the 
guards placed on the degraded elector of Saxony, whom, during five 
years, he had carried about with him as a prisoner, and set him entirely 
at liberty, either with an intention to embarrass Maurice by letting 
loose a rival, who might dispute his title to his dominions and dignity, 
or from a sense of the indecency of detaining him a prisoner, while he 
himself ran the risk of being deprived of his own liberty. But that 
prince, seeing no way of escaping but that which the emperor took, and 
abhorring the thought of falling into the hands of a kinsman, whom he 
justly considered as the author of all his misfortunes, chose rather to 
accompany Charles in his flight, and to expect the final decision of his 
fate from the treaty which was now approaching." — Robertson's History 
of Charles V. v. iii. p. 245. 

Ibid, line 7 from the bottom. — Read " The legate Crescenzio." The 
substitution of "Del Monte" is a mistake for which I am at a loss to 
account, he being pope at the time. 

P. 254, line 24. — Read "Delphi and the voice." 

P. 269. — For a fuller account of Commendone's mission, see Gratiani, 
Vita Commendoni, 1. ii. p. 70, sqq. Paris, mdclxix. 

P. 276, line 7.— Read "Orenze." 

P. 300, line 13. — Read " Mass having been celebrated." 
P. 323, line 16 from the bottom. — Read " arrived in" 
P. 329, line 6. — Read "as Mendham remarks." 
P. 336—346 is a misprint. 

P. 371, line 1 of Chap. XII.— Read "Madrucci." 
P. 377, note d . — Read "usucapio." 
P. 399, line 13.— Read " Gelasius." 

P. 419, Chap. XXX. — Compare "Acta, ut aiunt, inter Ferdinandun, 
Csesarem et illustrissimum Cardinalem Moronum, legatum, Spruch 
diebus prseteritis," in Masarelli, apud Martene et Durand, v. viii. 
p. 1351, sqq. 

P. 439, 3 lines from the bottom. — Read "for his want." 

P. 441. — Becchetto, Degli Ultimi Quattro Secoli della Chiesa, v. x. 
p. 10, sqq., dwells upon the English persecutions at some length. In 
ch. 9 there is a panegyric on Queen Mary, which will probably read cum 
grano salis. This writer, however, shows a praiseworthy acquaintance 
with English works connected with the Reformation. 



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